Believe Me
by hghrules
Summary: -Book 3 of the Remind Me series- *Skylox* At first, Ty is just glad that Sky is okay. But then Sky isn't okay because /Tyler/ shows up and then a giant cake appears and then everyone in the city gets sick and then Brice makes a terrible mistake and then the Crazies return and, well, Ty isn't quite so glad anymore.
1. Hello, There!

Hello, there! Welcome to the third and final book in the Remind Me series. It includes Skylox and Setosolace and most likely Merome and, like, a crap-ton of other things, as well. XD

Some things you can expect from this book? Well...

New Characters! Er, new charact _er,_ mostly. Singular. Yeah. It's the lovely _Tyler,_ or **MunchingBrotato.** Anyone up for some Skytato? ;)

There are also **a couple of OCs that are NOT PERMANENT AT** _ **ALL,**_ **DON'T WORRY.** XD

Hmm, returning characters. Let's see...

 **Sky** (duh are you an idiot or what)

 **Ty** (omg this is literally a Skylox book)

 **Seto** (I mean I did mention setosolace above but still this one is slightly less obvious so hey we're getting somewhere XD)

 **Brice**

 **Mitch**

 **Jerome**

 **Ian**

 **Quentin**

 **Annie**

 **Ashley**

 **Alesa** : 3

I'm not actually sure about **Tiffany**? I didn't do much with her character last book, so, if she does show up, it'll probably only be for a small part, sadly.

 **Seth**

 **The Giant Oven** :333

 **That Random Cat That Appeared in One of the Chapters in Forget Me**

 **The Angry Manager**

Approximately Twenty-Five **Mental Recruits**

 **A Bunch of Other Random Folks**

Sadly, I don't think we'll be seeing MUCH of the Mental Recruits this time around. Maybe the Mental Stars, though. I like them. XD

Ah, now, plot points. Well, I won't give you chapter clips this time, as I don't have much of this book written out yet. However, I will tell you that there is death and there is betrayal and there is heartbreak and guilt and angst (as always). Also there is one of my favorite ships but, shhh, if I told you the name of the ship it would spoil half the book. XD

First of all, we've got **Protective!Ty,** _ **yessssss.**_ XD Then there's our usual dose of **"Sky-Being-an-Idiot,"** as always. Also, wait, wasn't there a **giant Derp Ssundee cake** at some point in the last book? That was never resolved, was it? :333 Plus there's **Alesa on her medicine** , the whole, ahem, _**epilogue**_ of the last book (or prologue of this one), and, hey, where are the **Crazies?** They can't have just _disappeared,_ are they _all_ locked up in the mental asylum? How is **Ashley** doing, living with Alesa? Where did **Tyler** come from and **why won't Ty ever allow him to be alone with Sky?** How come **civilians are randomly falling horribly ill** and _oh dear notch_ _ **who gave Brice permission to have magic.**_

Ahem, right. Well. Those were a few of the questions that may or may not be answered in this book, and I hope you look forward to reading about them as much as I look forward to writing about them.

See you in the prologue, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers. Baiii!


	2. Prologue

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 0: Prologue**

 **Ty's POV**

 **5:9**

 **8:16**

 **22:5**

"Watch, Ty. Watch and learn," Sky says, smiling at me and taking a few steps back. He narrows his eyes and focuses on the next platform. Then he takes off running.

"Attention! May I please have your attention?" Seto's voice comes over the intercom. Sky's eyes widen, and he skids to a halt right before jumping toward the next platform. "The Respawn Machine is in need of repair, so I must insist that everyone stay away from any games that could potentially cause death." Seto pauses. Sky shrugs and gets ready to jump again. Before I can stop him, Seto's voice echoes through the room again. "Sky, you ought to have learned by now." I snort.

"Honestly, though, how many horrible accidents must you be the center of before you learn your lesson?" I ask, looking back at him. I'm on the finishing platform, and he's on the platform behind me. Alesa is one behind him.

He laughs. "I dunno. I feel like a couple more times would do it?"

"Right, 'cause that'll totally improve your overall lifespan," Alesa replies sarcastically, and I'd have to fight not to laugh. I hate how easily we've forgiven her. I hate how easily forgiveness came after she went through therapy and apologized to the whole city and just stopped being a psycho jerk. I suppose she's really not all that bad a person, though, once you get past the mental illness bit.

"Hmph," Sky pouts at us both, which only causes me to laugh harder. Another reason it was so easy to mostly forgive Alesa: Sky is still here. Sky is still alive and here and perfectly healthy and happy, and for that, I am more than thankful.

"Whelp," Sky says after I've calmed down a bit, "how long do you think we'll have to sit here?"

"Ugh," I groan. "Too long." I sit down on the edge of the finishing platform and swing my legs.

"Dang," Sky says quietly, glancing around. Before he can so much as consider jumping to the ladder on the side of the map, I spit out a series of nopes that has him widening his eyes and then chuckling in amusement. "Geez, Ty, calm yourself. I'm not gonna jump."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Well. I'm not gonna jump _far._ "

"Sky, it took me five tries to get from that platform to the one I'm on now. You are _not_ going to attempt that jump," I say threateningly as I slowly get to my feet.

He holds his hands up in a defensive position. "Hey, don't freak! I'm just jumping to Alesa's platform, that's all. I wanna be closer to her so I can be not bored."

I frown, not because of the distance between Sky's platform and Alesa's (he can make that jump without any effort at all), but because there he goes, choosing Alesa again. Apparently, I'm boring. I guess I always have been, in comparison to Alesa. She's exciting, that's for sure. Still, I would've thought that being a steady best friend for several years would at least count for _something._

Internally, I shrug. Sky has always been unpredictable. It's something that I appreciate even as I smack my palm against my forehead. I mean, sure, I could do without the Sky-abandoning-me-for-Alesa- _again_ thing, but the unpredictability is part of what makes Sky _Sky._

"Oh. All right," I answer after a silence that I let sit just a little too long. Oops.

"So, Alesa! How was the therapy?" he asks, and at least he's not still totally in love with her. Of course, he has yet to fully get over the whole deal – forget the whole 'I electrocuted your friends' bit, he's currently more concerned with the 'I broke your heart' bit.

 _Four_.

It sucks.

Ironically, I've been here the whole time, reliably present and mentally stable while those four either randomly died or became insane villains. Regardless of this, I've still been pushed aside every time someone new arrived.

It's kind of what we do, I guess. He moves on from one person and then he finds another, and I sit there and try my hardest to be supportive. It's fine. So long as his next one doesn't go crazy or break Sky's heart again in one form or another, I can live with it.

I mean, hey. With Dawn, he didn't even ignore me all that much. Of course, that was one of four, but... Well. Still.

"Oh, it was great! Notch, I feel so much lighter now," Alesa replies happily, stepping closer to Sky. Wait, now that she's relatively sane, does she actually- oh, heck, no.

"Ah, good. So, what medicine did Seto prescribe?" I ask her, yelling a bit so that I know I'll be heard from two platforms over. "He had to have prescribed _something_." Have to remind Sky that she's mentally unstable. Can't have him falling for _her_ again. Notch, anyone but her.

She gives me a tight smile. Hmm, sensitive subject. Clearly. "Yes, well. You two know. Something with 'Alesa' in it, I think."

"Right, right, that makes sense."

Sky tilts his head at me, unsure why I'm purposefully making her uncomfortable. Of course, he knows I haven't _fully_ forgiven her. It's hard not to hold a bit of a grudge when, every time you look at her, you see yourself murdering your best friend.

"It does," Alesa replies. "After all, I'm insane."

Sky tilts his head more. This time, I'm inclined to join him.

"Well, yeah, but-" Sky begins.

"Sorry, Sky," she whispers evilly, and, from this distance, I can barely see the twisted smile on her face as she pushes Sky over the edge of the platform. His face is one of irrepressible shock as he falls closer and closer to the ground.

For a few terrifying moments, I can't even move, and that somehow makes everything worse. No, Sky, no, _please_ , no, we are _not_ going through this memory loss deal again.

He hits the ground far below with a crunch that even I can hear clearly, and I cringe. Ugh. Here comes the amnesia, do-over #34,807.

Nothing happens. No pop. No poof. No white dust or snowflakes. No Sky standing next to me and wondering who the crap dropped all that gold. No, none of that.

His body doesn't disappear.

My eyes widen in fear. My jaw may have just hit the ground. My heart is beating fast, and I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe but I can _scream._

" _SKY!"_


	3. Screening

_so apparently all the odd chapters are gonna have to be really long oops_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 1: Screening**

 **Ty's POV**

" _Alesa!"_

Ashley jumps as I fling open the door to her house and march inside. "Ty! How are you?"

 _"Where_ is Alesa?"

"Bedroom, playing video games. Wanna play with us? I was just getting snacks," she says, beaming. I growl and walk past her to the bedroom. "Uh, is that a 'no,' or a 'yes?'"

"Alesa!"

The girl drops her game controller after hearing her name called so loudly. "Ty?" she asks, tilting her head.

"Are you taking your medicine?" I ask sharply.

"Well, no, not at _this very moment-"_ My eyes widen, and she rolls her own eyes and huffs. "But, yes, I took it this morning."

I nod and then turn to Ashley. "Does it seem to be working? No, scratch that, _is_ it working?"

Ashley shrugs. "I guess so."

"Yes or no," I hiss. She puts up her hands in a defensive gesture.

"Yes, Ty, it's working. What's wrong?"

I take a deep breath and then blow it out slowly. "Nothing, nothing is wrong. What are you guys playing?"

"Something Seth coded recently," Alesa replies, brushing off my earlier panic. "Wanna play?"

"Um... Yes, please."

"Geez, Ty, loosen up," Ashley jokes, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously, there must be something wrong."

"No, there isn't. How do we play?" I sit down by Alesa on the floor and grab one of the extra controllers.

"Pretty simple, really," Alesa says, pushing a few buttons and causing the game menu to pop up. "It's like parkour, kind of? You'll see. Press that button to jump, that one to crouch, and that one to sprint."

"Thanks." Three more deep breaths, and I'm playing a video game with Alesa without trying to kill her. Props to me. Five minutes later, and I'm actually enjoying the game. "You said Seth made this?"

"Yeah, he works on this kind of thing when he's not doing huge builds," Ashley confirms, munching on some food.

"Oh, that's cool. Is-" I'm cut off by the annoying ringing of my phone. "Ugh, hold on... Hello?"

"Hey, Ty!" Sky's overly excited voice shouts, and I blink. "Are you ready to screen some people?"

"Um... what?"

"You know, screening! You said you'd screen all my potential future partners. Or friends."

"I- Oh, right. Okay, then. Where are you?"

"We're all meeting at the pizzeria."

" _The_ pizzeria?"

" _The_ pizzeria."

"Maybe 'the pizzeria' can be your 'always,'" Alesa giggles, and I glare at her and make a mental note to actually turn down the volume on my phone.

"I'll be there in ten minutes, Sky. How many people am I screening?"

"Thirty." I can almost _hear_ his obnoxious grin.

" _Thirty!?_ What the heck, Sky, that's ridiculous!"

"Nah, it's not. I mean, it's not like I'm planning to date all of them, that's weird. And, anyways, it can't _hurt_ to screen all thirty. Half of these people are Recruits, and this'll help filter out the crazy ones!"

"I have yet to figure out why I still talk to you."

"Aw, you love me."

"Hmph. I'll be there soon, Sky." I press 'end call' and then close my eyes and blow out a long breath **.** Oh, Sky. Idiot.

"Oh," Alesa whispers, wincing. "I get it. Now I feel _twice_ as bad about making you kill Sky."

"You- what!?"

"It's obvious if you just take a moment to look," she says, shrugging sadly. "I'm sorry."

"I- please don't tell anyone," I beg, because I've kept this secret for _years_ , and it can't get out _now-_

"Don't worry," Alesa assures me, and then she pretends to zip her lips.

"Um... what just happened?" asks a very confused Ashley.

"I won the game, that's what!" Alesa covers easily, and I am terrified yet again of her ability to so flawlessly lie.

Partially because Alesa always gives me a feeling of unease and partially because I'm going to be late if I wait any longer, I spit out a terse congratulations and then wave to them both before walking out the door.

* * *

I enter the pizzeria cautiously, sneaking around as though that will keep the many customers from noticing me. "Uh... Sky?" Why in Minecraftia would he decide we should meet _here_ , of all places? Does he not remember the Angry Manager? That seems like something you wouldn't easily forget.

"Hey, Ty, we're back here!"

I raise an eyebrow and follow the sound of his voice past two columns and a picture of a dancing pizza. "Um..."

"Welcome!" he shouts, brandishing a pair of jazz hands. "I reserved the private section of the restaurant, it's perfect!"

"Sky, we were banned from this restaurant ages ago."

"What? Nah."

"The manager chased Ant out of the restaurant because we told him Ant was you."

"Sorry, not ringing any bells. Come on, Ty, you have to meet them!" He grins and grabs my hand to drag me into the room.

I remind myself that it is only a form of directed transportation.

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you have so many people here?" I ask to distract myself.

"Gotta make sure potential friends/more-than-friends aren't psycho, duh. I've explained this already, haven't I?"

"Not very well."

"Hmph. Well, you've been my friend for years, Ty, and you haven't gone crazy yet, so I trust you as a good judge of character."

"That doesn't quite make sense. Good effort, though, you're getting closer to sanity."

"Thank you. Wait, _I'm_ insane, and you hang out with _me_ all the time! You're a _horrible_ judge of character!" I smack my hand against my forehead, and he furrows his eyebrows. "On the other hand, you said I'm getting closer to sanity, so does that mean your sane-ness is rubbing off on me?"

"Okay, stop talking," I command, pushing past him to meet the people he brought. "So, introductions?"

"No, no, we'll do introductions later," Sky says, bouncing around a bit. "You're gonna have a date-type thing with each of them – except please don't fall in love – or do, whatever, I don't even know these people-" Sky stops for a moment to plan his words, and several people glare at him while others only laugh. "Anyways. They'll have fifteen minutes to introduce themselves to you and prove that they are relatively normal and not planning to kill anyone."

"Ah, lovely. Wait, thirty people – that's seven and a half hours, Sky."

"Woah, you did that in your head!? You're amazing, holy crap!" he laughs, and I hide my barely visible blush behind an unamused poker face.

"Yes, I am. But do you seriously expect me to meet with each and every one of these people?"

"Uh-huh."

"Okay, I'm leaving." I turn around and step out of the private area, and Sky panics and grabs onto my arm.

"No, hold on, I'm sorry! Here, pick all the ones that look sane at first glance, then you can meet just those guys."

With an exaggerated sigh and rolling of the eyes, I spin back around and walk closer to the people, who have gathered into a single file line. "Right, okay." The first person is a brunette with brown eyes to match her hair, and she would look perfectly innocent if not for the dagger in her purse. Now, sure, maybe it's wrong to judge her seeing as I've got a dagger of my own in my backpack, but, I mean... not safe. Sky should definitely not associate with this woman. "You. Out."

She growls at me and and reaches for her purse, but I grab the dagger and toss it to Sky before she can stab it at my face. "No. Get out. Don't talk to Sky ever again." She glares at me and marches out of the room.

"Well, dang, Ty! That was quick. _I_ thought she was lovely."

"Yes, and _I_ thought she was a murderer." I turn back to the line of people and blow out a breath. "So. If anyone else plans to go crazy or try to harm either of us, now would be a good time to leave. Act now, and you can even take a bit of your pride with you!"

Twenty-four of them look down and then walk out the door, and Sky gapes at the backs of their heads. "Oh my Notch, seriously!? No way!"

"You're a terrible judge of character, Sky. Maybe you should just stick with Team Crafted for a bit."

"Make new friends, and keep the old, one is silver and the other's _budder_!" Sky sings, and I sigh in exasperation.

"Yes, Sky, and the old friends are the budder part. Don't you like budder?"

"Pssh, duh, of _course_ I like budder."

"So just keep your budder and stop going after silver."

"Ty, come on. The point of the song is that you _should_ make new friends, but that you should _also_ stick with your current ones. I'm not gonna abandon you again," he promises, bumping my shoulder gently with his own.

"You can say that, but..," I mumble, barely inaudible. "Sorry. So, these are the five that are left. They look nice enough. Where'd you meet them all?"

"They'll tell you that during the interviews."

"Interviews."

"Yeah, that's what they are, right? I mean, basically, yeah. Okay, Number Eighty-Five, you're up first!"

"Eighty-Five- first of all, why did you number them? And, second, there were only thirty to begin with!"

"Aw, he was just having fun," one of the girls says, wearing a soft smile.

"Hmm. So, who's Eighty-Five?"

"Me," one of them speaks up, stepping forward. Tall, blond, not really Sky's type. Wait, does Sky have a type? I suppose we all do, subconsciously. I call _my_ type my Skype. Get it? 'Cause, you know- okay, yeah, I'm done.

"All right, the rest of us will just head over into the main part of the restaurant – you guys have this room to yourself. See you soon!" Sky says quickly, rushing out of the room and dragging the remaining four girls with him.

"Wait, Sky, don't let the manager see you-" I sigh, because he's already left. "Well."

"Ready to start?" Eighty-Five asks as she pulls out my chair, and I wonder if she knows she's got the traditional rules mixed up just a bit.

"Uh, yeah, sure. So, what's your name? I'm Ty, in case you didn't catch that."

"Oh, don't worry, I caught it," the girl laughs, sitting down across from me at the table. "I'm Jef."

"Uh..."

"It stands for Jennifer Elizabeth Fairfield."

"Ah. Okay." I swallow, glancing around. What do we talk about? Awkward, there are even candles lit everywhere.

"So, are you supposed to interview me or something?" she asks, kindly nudging me along, and I silently thank her.

"Right, I guess so. Uh... hobbies, I guess?"

"Of course! I'm an artist, so clearly there's a bunch of artsy stuff going on in my life. I'm currently working on a portrait of my girlfriend, and-"

"Wait, girlfriend?" I raise an eyebrow questioningly.

"Problem?" she asks, matching my expression.

"None at all," I reply, sighing with relief. "You're clear, I think. Can you bring in whoever Sky wants to go next?"

"Sure." She stands up and then pauses. "So, hold on, you're just letting me go, though? What if I were planning to murder Sky in his sleep?"

"Well, hopefully, since he won't be dating you, he won't be tempted to give you a key to his house, and you won't have the _chance_ to kill him in his sleep."

"What if I sneaked in through the window? And, hey, what if I'm bi or something and I end up breaking up with my girlfriend?"

"You're painting a picture of her– she definitely means a lot to you, and, even if you _did_ break up with her, you seem sweet. You wouldn't try to murder Sky."

"What!? You don't know that! Maybe I was lying about the picture! Haha, I'm actually _not_ an artist, I'm secretly a banker!"

"No, you aren't. Are you done?"

"I- No! What if one of these girls tricks you and hurts Sky?" she asks, frowning. "It'll be your fault if he's injured."

"I will _not_ let anyone hurt Sky," I growl, and she snorts and throws up her hands.

"Might wanna up your interviewing skills, then, buddy."

"Look, I know what I'm doing, okay? Kind of. Just- I _care_ about him. Even if I do screw up this interview thing, I'll be there to save him when things go wrong."

"Hmm." She nods approvingly. "I like you. All right, well, bye! Good luck with Sky."

"Wha- I didn't say that I-"

"You didn't have to," she says, winking, and then she turns and walks out of the room.

"Number Eleventy-Seven!" shouts Sky's familiar voice, and I sigh. Of course there would be an eleventy-seven.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Cheryl, how are you today?" she asks, marching into the room and shaking my hand as she sits down. She's wearing what looks like a business suit and it's kind of weirding me out, but, I mean, hey, whatever.

"Uh, I'm okay. You?"

"Splendid, now let's talk. You're Sky's best friend, correct?"

"Um-"

"Lovely, how long have you known each other?"

"Quite a while, we-"

"I see," she mutters, scribbling on a notepad. I furrow my eyebrows.

"Uh, I think _I'm_ supposed to be conducting the interview-"

"That's sexist, why do men always do the interviewing?"

"They don't-"

"How long has Sky been in control of the city?"

"What? I don't know, like... more than a few years, I guess-"

"And how much power does he have over the civilians?"

"Okay, I feel like you need to leave," I huff, standing up and dragging her up as well.

"Augh, molestation!"

"Seriously, get out." She glares at me before sniffing and walking out the door. Sky peeks in at me, raises an eyebrow, and then shrugs and yells, "Negative Three!"

"Hello," the redhead says, smiling gently as she takes her spot.

"Hi, I'm Ty," I greet her, and she nods like she already knows. Well, yeah, Ty, of course she already knows.

"Sky talks about you a lot. Not that I've known him all that long. 'Cause I haven't. I met him yesterday. In an arcade. It was really fun."

"Oh, I'm sure. Did he rage?"

She laughs. "A lot."

"Predictable," I reply, smiling at the mental image. "Sorry, though, what was your name again?"

"Sorry. It's Tara. I didn't tell you. My bad."

"No problem, Tara. Why did you put up with Sky long enough to come to this meeting?"

"He's funny," she says, grinning. "And I love the way he raged. It really left an impression on me. He was just so angry! It was great. I think he might even agree to help me pillage a village in the future. That would be awesome. I love making new friends."

My eyebrows shoot up. "Was that a... Was that a joke?"

She stares at me blankly. "Was what a joke?"

"Yeah, no. Out you go, thanks for shopping at Wal-Mart."

"Can I come again?"

"No. Bye!"

"Number B!" Sky calls, and I have to laugh a little.

A black-haired lady with bright blue eyes shuffles into the room, refusing to meet my eyes as she sits down. "Hi, I'm Rena."

"Nice to meet you, Rena. Where did you meet Sky?"

She gives me a one-sided shoulder shrug before glancing around the table and answering, "This very pizzeria, actually. He was fighting with the manager, I think." She scratches absently at her neck.

"Ugh," I groan, "of course he was."

There's a short silence, and then she barks out an uncomfortable laugh.

"Hey, Rena, calm down! You don't have to worry, all right? I don't bite."

"Right, sorry," she replies, licking her lips.

"Not a problem," I assure her, smiling as nicely as I can manage. "So, what do you want out of your relationship with Sky?"

"Not much, to be honest," she laughs, tapping her fingers silently against the tabletop. "I guess just someone to laugh with."

"That's sweet," I say, hating how nice she seems.

"You don't believe me?"

"What? No, of course I believe you." I frown as she stands up.

"Listen, _Ty,_ I know that you're here to protect him and all, but I've got a _job_ to do. So if you could _kindly_ approve me so I can hurry up and get close to this idiot, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Ah, oh. You changed quickly."

She pulls out a sword.

"Hmm, okay, definitely not letting _you_ near my best friend," I say, biting my lip nervously and standing up.

"Wrong thing to say," she snaps, and then she's holding the blade to my neck and I'm trying to remember where I last set my spawnpoint. Seto's house, I think – I was staying over for an experiment. Well, heck, that's ages away.

 _"Sky!"_ I shout, because I can't get to my backpack to draw my own sword, and he's still got that girl's dagger, so maybe he can help.

"Ty!" he screeches, shoving the door open and launching across the room, and Jef follows him with wide eyes. "Dude, what the crap!?" The dagger comes out.

The girl's body goes poof, and her sword clatters to the ground.

"Well," I say, panting slightly as the pressure releases from my neck, "you _definitely_ can't date _her._ "

"Ha, you _do_ know what you're doing!" Jef laughs, and I sigh.

"I was pinned up against the wall."

"So? You got the action outta that one!"

"Yeah, you need to stop talking now. Sky, who's the last one?"

"Nancy went home after Jef confiscated her light saber."

"What- why did she have a light saber?"

Sky shrugs and walks towards the door. "How should I know?"

"Hmph. Well, Sky, congrats; out of thirty people, you have made one friend. She seems pretty cool, though, so that's neat."

Sky looks over at me, studying my face as we exit the private room. "Yes," he says slowly. "I guess so."

"What's wrong?" I ask, pausing in my movement.

"Oh, nothing," he says, and then his voice drops to a whisper as he adds, "I'll try again tomorrow."

"Don't worry, it'll work," Jef reassures him, bumping his shoulder, and I tilt my head.

"What are you guys-"

"YOU!"

Oh, dear Notch, no.

"I _WARNED_ YOU TO STAY _OUT_ OF MY RESTAURANT!"

"No, you didn't, you warned our friend Ant," Sky replies calmly.

The Angry Manager growls at us. "I _should_ _have_ warned you. You two tricked me!"

"What did you guys do!?" Jef whispers.

"Nothing!" Sky and I reply in scary sync. Then we exchange a glance and giggle.

"GET OUT!"

"But we didn't even do anything! … This time," Sky complains.

"Hmm," I say quietly, glancing up at the tall manager's furious features. "For some odd reason, I'm getting the impression that you don't really like us all that much."

His face transforms into something even more terrifying, and my eyes widen. Sky squeaks, and then I grab his hand and he grabs Jef's and we sprint out of the restaurant.

"Never again, Sky," I pant as we lean against a random building.

"But," he puffs, "but you have to interview the next ten tomorrow!"

He's lucky I don't punch him then and there.


	4. Goodbye, Ty

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 2: Goodbye, Ty**

 **Sky's POV**

 **2:46**

 **4:9**

 **7:12**

I grin as I tug Ty toward the back room of the Fazoli's. I've got ten more for my friend to screen, and, dear Notch, if not a single one of them can make him jealous, I'm quitting life.

It was brought to my attention by a certain lesbian that it might be wise to include some _boys_ in the screenings if my end goal were to be _dating_ a boy. That, uh, that makes sense. Which is why five girls and five boys were called in the moment I was away from Ty. Of course, I can't go making myself look _too_ suspicious by calling in _all_ boys. Ty's not an idiot.

"How many people am I going to have to screen?" Ty groans. Oh, geez. He'll get fed up with me after a while, and then all my plans will go out the window.

"U-Uh, not many," I reply carefully. "I'll reevaluate the necessity of screening after these ten."

"First of all: dang, Sky, big words. Why are you nervous? And, second: No, that is not at all what I meant. I'll keep screening everyone, certainly – no way am I letting you go through anything similar to what happened with Alesa again. Just- how many people do you plan on bringing in this month?" He looks tired and just a bit hurt.

"Ah, no more, unless I meet someone really spectacular."

He smiles at me, and then I wave him toward the first person, a lady who sort of creeps me out and who I hope will make Ty all protective-y of me.

Five minutes pass, and, sadly, there don't seem to be any problems. Random Lady hasn't been cast out of the room, Ty hasn't screamed for help. Things are going terribly well, and I hate it.

Maybe she's just a really good actor. It doesn't matter – Ty will see through it. He always does, even when _I_ don't.

A muffled noise reaches our ears, and my eyes widen. Yup, there it is. "Ty!" I draw my sword and burst into the room, and-

"Ty?"

"He's dead," the Random Murderer Lady cackles, stating the obvious, and my eyes widen even more. But she's right, isn't she? There's Ty's body, crumpled in a heap at the bottom of a downward stream of water. She's trapped him in a cage of doors, and he's drowned.

Which is fine. Or, it _will_ be fine, as soon as he respawns.

...

 _Why won't he respawn?_

"I turned off the machine," the Murderer Lady reveals, and I blink a few times.

 _What?_

"He's dead," she repeats. "And he's staying that way."

My world falls out from under me.


	5. Hello, Tyler

_Remember, I update Believe Me_ twice _every week. Make sure to read Chapter Two before you read Chapter Three!_

 _ALSO AYYYYY GO THANK GILAMONSTER18 FOR HELPING ME WRITE THE END BIT OF THIS CHAPTER. XD SHE READ THE WHOLE THING OUT LOUD AND I JUST CANT I UGH SHE DID ACCENTS AND VOICES AND TY'S WAS LIKE A MY LITTLE PONY VOICE AND I JUST CANT OKAY XD_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 3: Hello, Tyler**

 **Ty's POV**

Apparently he wasn't kidding about having ten more people ready.

"How many people am I going to have to screen?" I ask, glancing around the Fazoli's we're in. Honestly, Sky, I don't wanna spend my whole life screening people. And... well...

"U-Uh, not many," Sky answers, and I frown. Stuttering? Is he okay? I now associate stuttering with the eternal pain, so, I mean... "I'll reevaluate the necessity of screening after these ten." Oh, heck, no.

"First of all: dang, Sky, big words. Why are you nervous? And, second: No, that is not at all what I meant. I'll keep screening everyone, certainly – no way am I letting you go through anything similar to what happened with Alesa again. Just-" I sigh. "How many people do you plan on bringing in this month?"

Forty people – forty! - have caught Sky's attention in less than a week. And I... I've been here for _ages_ , and he never even _considers-_ well. He's never dated a guy before or shown any interest in a guy, so I guess I can't blame him at all. Skylox just... isn't an option, that's all. And I can live with that.

But, oh, look at this, five of these people are _boys,_ citizens of the _male gender,_ and Notch _dang it,_ Sky, why won't you notice _me?_ You seem to have noticed _everyone else!_

Calm. I'm calm.

"Ah, no more, unless I meet someone really spectacular."

Oh, yes. I suppose I won't _ever_ fit _that_ adjective. I force a smile as he waves me toward the line of people.

"Number Tree-Fiddy!" he shouts even though we're all within five feet of him, but I have to laugh. "Have fun!" He giggles adorably/mischievously, and then he and the remaining people run out of the room.

I shake my head fondly as he goes. "So, uh..." Sighing, I turn to face "Number Tree-Fiddy" again. "What's your name? I'm Ty."

"And I am friggin' amazing, at your service," she says, keeping a serious expression as she salutes me. Then a smile twitches at her lips, and she shakes her head. "Sorry, I'm Phoebe."

"Ah, nice to meet you," I laugh. "Um... Augh, I haven't gotten any better at this."

"'S all right, we can just talk," she replies, shrugging and starting to walk around the room. Fidgety. Or ADHD. Or bored. Possibly all three. "Preferably about budder. You _do_ like budder, right? Hmph, you'd better. Notch, but these squids, I swear! Call it budder just _once_ in front of them, and suddenly they're trying to kill you. Rude. Of course, they're always trying to kill people anyways. They're probably gonna take over the world soon – ugh, honestly. Why does no one ever listen when I try to warn them? Squids are basically just water demons!"

I smile softly, and she huffs. "You remind me of Sky," I tell her as she walks back over to me.

"Oh, do I? How?" she asks, and I grin. Sky is just so fun to talk about.

"Well, not only interests – budder, a deep distrust of squid – but also your mannerisms and the way you talk. Like Sky. He can jump from topic to topic so easily, and, still, it almost always make sense. And he's so passionate about everything, too, and-" I pause, furrowing my eyebrows. "What are you doing?"

"Doors are, like, my security blanket. Since I'm placing them around you, it means I trust you."

I snort. "See? The randomness thing is really similar, too. I mean, hey, I'm not dissing you or your security blanket. But it's just so... random. Doors? Well, then."

She laughs. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's kinda weird."

"Not weird. Just... different."

"Mm. You love him, don't you?"

"He's my best friend."

"I didn't ask who he was, I asked if you loved him."

I flinch, looking at her face through the windows in the doors. "Maybe just a little. Why is everyone finally noticing?"

"'Cause everyone is finally looking. Anyways, don't worry, I won't take Sky from you." She places a block one space above my head, and I raise an eyebrow. "I will, however, take _you_ from _Sky._ After all, the squids can't use you as leverage against the city if you're already _dead._ "

My eyes widen when she places the block of water on the bottom of the block above me. Water flows down into my one-block room of doors, and I begin to panic at the water drenches my hair and _keeps_ drenching it because this is how water _works_ in Minecraft, and, oh, I wish it worked differently.

I reach out to shove open one of the doors, but they're iron, they're iron, so I can't open them _on my own._ "Sky!" I yell, but it comes out muffled and quiet, and all I've done is suck in some water. Louder, I have to be louder. "SKY!" I screech, pounding against one of the doors, and it's still unintelligible, but it's also pretty dang loud, which was the goal.

My chest burns and I'm lightheaded and my stupid reflexes are making me suck in more air, but it's _not_ air, it's _water_ , and I just need to _calm down already,_ because I'm only making it harder on myself and if I can just _die,_ I can re _spawn-_

"Ty!" calls the frantic voice of my best friend, but I can't see him very well because now there are black spots dancing across my vision and why is dying so _painful_ and-

Oh, Notch, now I'm coughing up water and yanking in air as Sky pulls me out of the water. "Sk-" I attempt, but, no, that isn't going to work. I breathe in another shuddering breath.

"Shh, you're all right. Just breathe for a moment," Sky orders in a soothing voice, and I lean into him, still shaking and relearning how to air. "It's all right, Ty, you're all right."

After a minute of me breathing and Sky just holding me, I manage to choke out, "I _hate_ dying."

Sky bursts out laughing, and I smile a little. "Yeah," he mumbles between giggles, "yeah, I do, too. Luckily for you, that lady was lying when she said she had turned off the Respawn Machine."

I nearly choke on my spit. "She said _what?"_

"Shh, it's okay now. Like I said, she was lying."

"How do you know?"

"Her body when _poof_ when I stabbed her," he replies bluntly.

"You _stabbed_ her thinking the Respawn Machine was _off!?_ "

He shrugs. "It was you or her. Clearly, I wasn't going to let _you_ die."

"Hmph. Well... Thank you, Sky. Thank you so much."

He carefully stands up and then reaches down to pull me up as well, nodding as he does so. "No problem, Ty." He picks up his diamond pickaxe and puts it back in his backpack. Wait, diamond? I would think he'd use budder, as I _know_ he always has a budder everything on him. But- well. I guess diamond is faster at digging through iron doors. "Wanna come over to mine for video games?" he asks.

"Sure-" I start automatically, but then I stop. "Hold on, what? We haven't gotten through all the people yet."

Sky snorts. "Like I would ask you to finish after what just happened. That was _way_ too close, Ty. I almost lost you that time."

"I'll be more careful," I assure him. "Anyways, I can't let you date just anyone. You could end up with a complete psychopath."

"Hmph. Like that lady?"

I laugh, holding back my regret at comparing her to Sky. Sky would _never_ try to kill me just to stay one step ahead of the squids. He has a heart. "Yes, like that lady."

"Well, Ty, I'm glad you care so much, but you really should rest."

"Mm, no. Who's the next person?"

"Ty, come on. We'll just send them home, and neither of us will have to see them ever again."

"I told you I'd screen those people, Sky. I'm not going back on that."

"Fine, uh- compromise? One more, and then the rest go home."

"Fair enough," I reply, because I actually don't want to screen anyone else, but I also don't want to let Sky down. "So, who am I screening?"

"Um..." He bites his lip. "Lemme think..."

 **Sky's POV**

Lizzie is most likely an axe murderer, Felicity keeps trying to talk me into joining a Squid-Human Alliance Club. Jack is boring as all crap, Darren and Seth ship SkyMU, Alyssa is allergic to budder, and Kendall is horribly crude. Jessie is exactly Ty's type, so I certainly can't leave those two in a room together. That would be counter-productive.

Tyler, then?

Oh, Tyler. I like Tyler. First of all, his name is awesome. Aside from that, he's cute, he's a brunette, he can be really funny but also really serious, and-

Well. I guess he reminds me of Ty in some ways.

"Number C830!" I decide, looking over at Ty afterwards. "You sure?"

He smiles and nods. Notch, he's simply desperate to find me a partner, isn't he? Geez. Whatever.

"All right, cool. Let me take care of that water first... Okay. If you need me, I'm just outside the doors, Ty."

"Don't worry, Sky, it'll be fine," he assures me, and I frown. Yeah, really desperate. I haven't bugged him _that_ much, have I?

"Right." I wave to him, walking by Tyler as I exit the room. He grins and gives me a thumbs up, and I force a smile in return.

The moment the door closes behind me, Lizzie attacks me with an axe, and I scream the words, "CALLED IT!" as I plunge my sword into her chest.

 _Poof!_

Silly psychopaths.

 **Ty's POV**

"Hello, I'm Ty," I introduce myself to C830, who pulls out my chair so we can actually sit down. Oh, okay, then.

"And I'm Tyler. How are you?" the brunette asks as he sits down on his own chair.

"Uh, okay, I guess. You?"

"Awesome. So, whaddaya wanna know, Ty?"

"Erm, tell me about yourself."

"Sure! Well, I like budder, and I hate squids, so Sky and I get along pretty well. I met him in the budder mines, actually. And, to be perfectly honest, I've had a crush on him from the start," he says, speaking softly, and I fight not to cringe.

"Uh, cool. So, um... Hobbies?"

"Parkour, Hunger Games, Cops and Robbers, and a bunch of other minigames. Also, I enjoy killing squids and mining for budder, obviously. And I've recently discovered the many joys of teasing Sky," he laughs, grinning mischievously.

"Yeah," I say dryly, unable to force a friendly tone. "You sound brilliant, but maybe-"

"What'll I have to do to make you accept me?" he frowns, leaning across the table, and my eyes widen. "Bribes? Blackmail?" Oh. Oh, my. His entire attitude has changed.

"Neither will work."

"Hmph. Well, you're sure about the bribes, fine, but you can't possibly predict your reaction to blackmail. You don't even know what I'm going to blackmail you with."

"So?"

"So I have a chance. What would really get _at_ you? Your deepest, darkest secrets being released? Your Team in epic trouble? Or, oh, what if I told Sky?"

"Told him what?"

" _Everything."_

I swallow. "Everything?"

"And now we're getting somewhere. Yes, Ty, everything. How would Sky react to the knowledge that his best friend is in love with him?"

I squeeze my eyes shut and then open them again. "It doesn't matter. I could never tell Sky I _approved_ of you. You're a psycho, he'd be in danger!"

"Hmm." He shakes his head. "It's a shame you couldn't just approve me and be done with it the moment I mentioned your secret. I can still convince you, of course – you've just given me everything I need. The stakes are higher, though."

I tilt my head in confusion.

"Approve me, or I'll hurt Sky."

* * *

Tyler waves to Sky as he walks out of the Fazoli's, and he shoots me a nasty glare as soon as Sky stops looking his way. Augh – have I made the wrong decision?

"How'd it go?" Sky asks.

"Tyler is... interesting," I say carefully, and he raises an eyebrow.

"What kind of interesting?"

* * *

 _HAHA LEL SUFFERAGEEE_

 _What do you guys think he chose? :3_

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure."


	6. Haven't Seen You in a While

_If you give me a few moments, I'll have come up with a chapter five as well as an explanation for the long wait. XD_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 4: Haven't Seen You in a While**

 **Ty's POV**

 **8:2**

 **18:58**

 **23:36**

"Hey, Ty! How'd the 'screening' go?" Jason asks, raising an eyebrow and holding back a chuckle. Hmph. So much for 'holding back.'

"It went well, thank you very much," I say even though it didn't.

"So not well at all, then. What happened?"

"Nothing, it was fine," I huff, rolling my eyes. "I met with half a billion people and sent most of them away on the basis that they were insane."

He snorts. "Fair enough. Where's Sky?"

"With Dawn, they went to the movies."

"Dawn? I thought we didn't like her," he says, frowning. "You know, because she broke Sky's heart."

"Yeah, but I guess broken hearts aren't that big of a deal anymore? They're back together now. Sky completely trusts her, so I'm trying to trust her as well."

"All right, then. I guess I'll try, too, though I don't think I'll be having much luck with that."

"Ditto," I respond, wrinkling my nose. "Wanna-"

"Jason, Ty! Hey, I haven't seen you guys in a while," and, speak of the devil, there she is.

"Dawn," I greet her dryly, and Jason grimaces.

"Hello, Dawn," he says, and she smiles at us both.

"How are you two?"

"Lovely. And you?" I ask, forcing myself to be civil.

"Not too bad. Although..." She pauses, looks over both of us carefully. "I hear that one of you is trying to take my place."

"Excuse me?" I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Taking her place?

"Oh, you _both_ know what I mean," she snarls, her entire demeanor switching up. "One of you is in love with _my_ Sky. You think you're so clever, 'hiding' your feelings just so you can come out with a dramatic declaration of love, get his attention, and then steal control of the city for your _self._ Well, you're not clever, not at all- Sky is _mine,_ and _I_ will be the one taking control of the city. I don't care if I have to join the freaking squids or poison Sky himself, _I will win this._ Neither of you have a chance."

Jason holds his hands up in a defensive position, and I snort. "Please. Sky won't let you-"

"It's you, isn't it?" she asks, stepping towards Jason. "You're awfully quiet. You're the one in love with him, aren't you? You must be."

"Um, what are you-"

"I can't let you live," she hisses, drawing a diamond blade, and Jason's eyes widen in sync with mine. "You'll get in my way far too much."

"No, wait-!" I begin, but then she's lunging forward, slicing my friend's head off in one fluid motion, and, _no_ , no, no, no, he didn't even _do_ anything! "No! It was me, it's me! _I'm_ the one in love with your boyfriend, Jason didn't do anything! You can't just- no!" She just killed Jason! She just killed _Jason!_

"Oh," Dawn says quietly, though she doesn't seem to be showing any regret. "Well. I suppose I'll just have to kill you off, as well, then."


	7. Many Skill So Magicking

_OKAY, SO, EXCUSES:_

 _WRITER'S BLOCK._

 _I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO WRITE A DANG THING FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS, aND IT WAS SO ANNOYING_

 _IVE ACTUALLY STILL GOT WRITERS BLOCK, BUT I FORCED MYSELF TO WRITE THIS CRAPCHAPTER ANYWAYS ._

 _AND YEAH THATS MY INADEQUATE EXCUSE FOR THE WEEKS_

 _SORRY, GUYS! I HOPE YOU CAN EN-JUH-HOY CHAPTERS FOUR AND FIVE EVEN THOUGH THEYRE HORRENDOUSLY LATE. ^.^_

 _Baiii, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 5: Such Wow Many Skill So Magicking**

 **Ty's POV**

"Hey, Ty! How'd the 'screening' go?" Jason asks, raising an eyebrow and holding back a chuckle. Hmph. So much for 'holding back.'

"It went well, thank you very much," I say even though it didn't.

"So not well at all, then. What happened?"

"Nothing, it was fine," I huff, rolling my eyes. "I met with half a billion people and sent most of them away on the basis that they were insane."

He snorts. "Fair enough. Where's Sky?"

"With Tyler, they went to the movies," I reply, cringing. I can't believe I left him alone with Sky – but, really, what choice did I have? I tried indirectly leading Sky towards other activities involving more light and more people, but he was dead set on going on a 'date' with Tyler, and if I told him the real reason I didn't want him going out with the guy (besides me being in love with him, of course), Tyler would have hurt him. Nope, nope, nope, not even gonna go there.

"Who's Tyler?"

"Ah, right, sorry. One of the people who I, unfortunately, didn't deem a total mental case."

"Unfortunately?"

"Right, uh... right."

"Mm, I won't make you explain that, then," he laughs, sensing my discomfort. "Well, how do you feel about a parkour day, then, just you and me?"

I consider this for a moment before shrugging and nodding. "Sure, why not-"

"Augh- Go long, Seto!" shouts a female voice, and Jason's eyes widen with mine.

"Oh dear oh dear oh dear _Notch_ ," Seto babbles, flying at a way-too-fast speed past me and Jason. "Try to stop!"

"How!?" Brice's voice exclaims, filled with terror. Where is he-

"Make a stop motion with your hands, or- or- I don't know, it's different for different people!" Seto shrieks as Brice comes zooming into view, flying through the air in a way that he clearly cannot control.

"It isn't working! Is there a spell or something!?"

"Uh, um, _desine quaeso meum gosh!_ _"_ Seto replies, and then his eyes widen as he realizes his mistake and his magic drops him to the ground unceremoniously. He grunts in pain. "Ack, no!"

"What!? Uh, _Daisy's Nick has a now mctosh!?"_ Nothing happens, but Brice squeaks as he accidentally flies in a complete circle and then two vertical loopityloops.

"Brice! _Ascendam, Ascendam!"_ Seto shoots back into the air. _"Murus!"_ A vertical, almost invisible six-by-six platform of blocks appears, attached to a handle, and Seto grabs it before holding it out in front of himself and trying to intercept Brice's path.

"Seto!" Brice calls out in a panic as he flies straight up.

" _Cadent, cadent!_ " Seto shouts, ditching the shield thing. Nothing. _"Prohibemus morionem!"_ Nothing.

"Seto!" Brice begs, and then he stops flying upwards – he's above the tallest building in the city at this point – and he _falls._

"Brice! Oh, Notch, _Brice!"_ Seto's eyes widen in fear, and he drops back down to the ground, immediately teleporting to the spot below Brice. _"Tueri! Tueri! Placet, tueri!"_ Seto is breathing in quick, short, panicked breaths-

"Woah, calm down, you're hyperventilating," I butt in, putting a hand on Seto's shoulder. "Concetrate. Focus. _Calm down."_

Seto takes a deep breath, nods to himself. _"Araneum!"_

With a flash of purple magic, a huge patch of spiderwebs appears where Brice will land in approximately two seconds-

"Oh, my gosh," Brice pants, sinking into the spiderwebs. "Oh, ew, ew!"

Seto lets out a grateful sigh and sinks back against me while Jason pulls Brice out of the spiderwebs. "All right, there, Brice?" Jason asks.

"Mm, thanks to Seto," he breathes, glancing towards the sorcerer will a thankful smile. Seto nods at him and closes his eyes. "Sorry about that, by the way."

"Not a problem." Seto frowns, still not opening his eyes. "Not your fault," he corrects himself. "Definitely a problem."

"Are you okay?" I ask, shifting my arms slightly to remind him that I'm basically supporting all of his weight right now. Which, granted, isn't that much, but- still.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Fine." The pressure lifts off my arms as he crosses his legs and lifts into the air, hovering in a meditative position. "Fine. Tired."

"Ah. So, care to explain what all... _that_ was about?"

"Brice retained some of the magic that was stored in him while he held my lifesource. And... uh, he doesn't know how to use it."

"Y-You guys- Did you-" Annie skids to a halt in front of us, leaning over and resting her hands on her knees as she gasps for air. "Wow, you guys are fast – flying is a lot faster than, uh, than running. Oh, geez." She swallows and stands up straight. "Sorry, I'm good. And I see you guys are, too."

"Well."

"What?"

"Well. Not good. You are well. We are also well."

Annie hits the palm of her hand against her forehead. "You are ridiculous."

"Wait, so- so Brice has _magic_ now?" Jason asks, eyes wide. Brice is still brushing cobwebs off himself.

"Yes. And it is obviously way out of control. I'll be trying to teach him how to use it until we can get rid of it, but..." Seto looks doubtful of any success.

"Sorry," Brice says meekly, wincing.

"No, no, it's fine, Brice," Seto says quickly, eyes finally flying open. "Don't worry, none of this is your fault. You certainly shouldn't be blaming yourself for any of this." Brice bites his lip guilitily. "Seriously, don't worry about it. We'll fix it." Seto smiles gently, which helps Brice to relax a bit. Then Seto falls out of the air, eyes going wide. "Crap! One of the medics in the city called me before the whole magic incident, some of the citizens were dying-"

"Dying? Like, _dying_ , dying?" I ask.

"Yes," Seto says, flinching back slightly. "I'm working on it, though. Something about poison, I think they said..."

"Eternal pain poison?" Jason asks.

"I don't think so? But we're not entirely sure."

"Crap-"

My phone starts ringing obnoxiously in my pocket, and I wrinkle my nose as I pull it out. "Hello?"

"Ty! Hey, so-"

"Oh, Sky! Hi, how's the thing with Tyler going?" I ask, walking a short distance away from the group. Jason snickers, and I glare at him as I leave.

"It's going great! We're actually about to leave the theater though so we can go on a hike outside the city-"

"Woah, alone?"

"Well, yeah, Ty. We're grown men-"

"Uh, no, I think not. That's dangerous, Sky."

"But the Respawn Machine is fine, and-"

"No. Definitely not."

"Oh, come on! Tyler will protect me if any dumb squids try to attack us."

No, no, no, he can _not_ go out of the city _alone_ except for _Tyler_ , _Tyler_ of all people! Alone with Tyler in the woods? No, no way, certainly not. "Sky, please, trust me on this one?"

"Can't _you_ trust _me?"_

"Of course I can! I just- Sky, I really think you should stay in the city. Maybe go to the arcade or something? Or I could go with you on the hike-"

"Not much of a date if you come with us," Sky says in monotone. "Seriously, what's your problem?"

"Nothing! I'm just looking out for your safety-"

"Why- Oh. You think I can't handle myself since I've almost gotten myself killed so many times in the past. Or maybe you don't think I can deal with a simple date, after all my failed previous ones?" He chuckles mirthlessly. "Listen, Ty, I don't need you to babysit me. I'm _fine."_

"Please, Sky, that's not what I meant, you know that's not what I meant-"

"Ty."

"Sky, if you'll just listen to me this _one_ time-"

"No, thank you. Tyler and I will have our phones off so we can get closer to nature and crap, so don't bother calling. Bye, Ty."

"Sky, wait, _please-"_

He hangs up, and when I try to call again, I get nothing.


	8. Watch, Ty

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 6: Watch, Ty**

 **Ty's POV**

 **3:8**

 **17:28**

 **17:54**

"Sky!" I shout, bursting onto the hiking trail. "Sky, he's a traitor!"

"Tyler?" he asks, confused and a bit startled. "What, no. Tyler isn't a traitor."

"No, Sky, he _is._ Please, _for the last time,_ you have to believe me, he threatened you during the interview, and-"

"Oh, right, sure. He threatened me and then you approved him anyway, because you're _such_ a caring and trustworthy friend."

My eyes widen. Did he seriously just- "Sky, no, I- Look, I'm sorry, he said he'd hurt you if I didn't approve, I'm-"

"I don't believe you," he says, shrugging. "Sorry. I trust Tyler - he's been really nice so far, and we get along pretty well."

"He's _faking_ it, Sky. I don't know what he wants, but he told me he'd harm you if I didn't let him see you-"

"Maybe he just really liked me and thought we could be good friends! Maybe he was tired of seeing you turn away everyone who walked into that interview room! Maybe he just wants the _best_ for me unlike _some_ people and so he was _faking it_ when he was talking to _you!"_

I flinch back. "I'm not- I wasn't turning them all away just for the heck of it, Sky, I was- I was looking out for you. And, anyways, why would he destroy my trust like that just so he could hang out with you?"

"I don't know." Sky sniffs. "Maybe he didn't think you deserved his trust, and he didn't want _your_ trust in return. No matter what your little story was all about, Tyler is my friend. Goodbye, Ty."

"It's not a story, Sky!"

"Sky, who's that?" a voice asks, and I freeze. He can't know I've told Sky about his threats, Sky will get hurt! "Oh. Ty. Hello."

He steps fully out from behind the trees, and I cringe. "Hello, Tyler," I reply stiffly.

"What's he doing here?" he asks Sky, who rolls his eyes.

"No idea, to be honest. I wish he'd shove off," Sky tells him. I am _right_ here!

"Ah, well, not all wishes come true. Some do, though," and then he leans in and _kisses_ Sky, and Sky's eyes widen for a moment but then they flutter shut and he melts into it and he's _kissing_ back, he's kissing back and no, no, no-

Just as I start to move forward - to do what, I'm not exactly sure - Tyler silently unsheathes his sword and smiles at me cruelly, mouthing the word "watch." Then he raises his blade, and, so quickly that my eyes can barely track the movement, he sticks it into my best friend's throat and out the other end.

 _"SKY!"_


	9. Tying Your Shoes

_GOAL: CRACK THE CODE BEFORE SETO DOES!_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 7: Tying Your Shoes at the Most Opportune Moments**

 **Sky's POV**

"I don't get why he's so worried," I sigh, leaning over to tie my shoe. A gust of wind blows right over my head, and I whistle as I stand back up and turn to look at Tyler, who is standing right behind me with his blade in his hand.

"I'll get those vines," he explains, stepping past me to hack at the offending plants. "And, I don't know, I guess he has a right to be worried after the whole poison issue."

I frown. "Hmm." He steps to the side of the cleared path and motions for me to go in front of him, and I smile gratefully before doing as silently told. "I just don't think-"

My eyes widen as I trip over something, and some sharp object pokes into my back briefly as I reach out to grab Tyler's hand. He smiles apologetically as I pull myself to my feet with his help, and he holds his blade out in front of him as though he were expecting some enemy to have sneaked up behind us. "My bad, I'm a bit clumsy."

"It's fine, I am, too," I laugh, pulling him along down the path. "Anyways, shouldn't- oh!" I scramble for a foothold after nearly walking right off a cliff, and then I sit on the edge, breathing a bit heavily, when I've found solid ground again. "Crap, I didn't even see that there!"

"Yeah, gosh, if I'd known this trail was so dangerous, I'd have picked a different one!" Tyler says, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Ah, well, not your fault."

"So," he begins, offering a hand to help me up again, "what were you saying about the whole Ty thing?"

"I just-" I sigh. "I don't know, to be honest. I wish he'd shove off."

"Ah, well, not all wishes come true. Some do, though," Tyler says softly, and then he leans in slowly - but not so slowly that I'm not entirely surprised when he _kisses_ me. Oh, dear _Notch_ , Tyler is _kissing_ me-

I find myself melting into it despite my mind's protests. He's _so_ much like Ty, and I've wanted this for _so_ long, and-

But this isn't Ty, this is Ty _ler_ , and I can't lead my new friend on.

"Ah, sorry, I- it's a bit too soon for that, I think," I mumble awkwardly, pushing away and blushing furiously. "I, um-" need time to convince myself to fall in love with him. "Sorry. Again. Augh, I'm sorry."

Tyler, looking thoroughly disappointed, nods understandingly and takes a step back. "Yeah, no, _I'm_ sorry. That was really fast, I shouldn't have tried that so soon after meeting you. Uh, you ready to go back?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind," I reply sheepishly, and he just smiles and nods before leading me back towards the city.

 **Ty's POV**

"Jason, you don't understand! I- He's a _lone,_ with _Tyler,_ and-"

"Dude, calm down. No big deal, okay? Sky is responsible - sometimes - and he'll probably be fine-"

"Probably!?" I shriek, forcing myself to take deep breaths as I sink down to the floor.

"Seriously, why are you panicking about this so much?"

"I just-" can't tell him. Not if I want Sky to live - then again, he might not live through the day, anyways. "I mean, Sky is an idiot sometimes. And a hike in a dangerous forest..."

Jason laughs. "Yeah, all right, good point. The Respawn Machine is working perfectly, though, so I think we're okay for now."

That thought calms me a bit - what can Tyler do while the Respawn Mechanism is still in top shape? Nothing. He'll have to break it first, and that'll take a lot of time and energy. Sky will be okay. For now. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

He laughs again. "You calm, then?" he asks, crouching down in front of me.

"Perfectly calm. 100% calm. When am I _not_ calm?"

Jason hums, politely avoiding answering my question. Thank Notch. "When do you think they'll be back?"

"Soon, I hope," I reply, slowly pushing myself back to my feet.

"No, Brice, it's more than that - it's, like- oh, I don't know! It's _bad_ , all right?" Seto rants as he leads Brice into the room, hand latched on to the artist's wrist, presumably to keep him from flying away.

"How'd it go?" I ask, sitting back down (in an actual chair this time).

"Badly," Brice answers when Seto refuses. "There's some form of the eternal pain virus going around the city and-"

"People are _dying_!" Seto fumes, reaching around the side of some complicated-looking machine. The front of it lights up, and he pushes two more buttons on the side and one on the front. "The Respawn Mechanism is perfectly intact, and yet innocent civilians are dying every week. How did I not know about this sooner!?"

"Hold on, I'm confused - the eternal pain?" I ask, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees.

"Yes." The frantic sorcerer leaves the computer and flies over to one of his many potion stands.

"How!?" I jump to my feet and move over to where Seto is standing. "How could it spread? What could have spread it? It's not like it was con _tagious-"_

"No, you're right, it wasn't contagious at all. But it is now."

"That's impossible."

"Wanna go on a trip to the city?"

"Uh..." I hesitate. Sure, the city and its health is important, but... Sky might get back soon. Or he might respawn soon. Regardless, I want to be the first one to greet him, to make sure he's okay.

"I think he wants to wait for Sky," Jason says, smiling softly at me.

"Um, I... Yeah. Thanks. I'm sorry." I wince slightly.

"Ah, that's fine, Ty. I hope you can fix whatever happened with Sky," Seto replies politely. "We'll be back in an hour, okay? We're just going to take a few more people aside for questioning."

"Geez, Seto, don't freak them out too much."

"I won't," he laughs, waving to me as he and Brice walk back out of the room. Brice starts to float a bit as they leave, and Seto's eyes widen as he runs after him. Jason hardly tries not to laugh.

Then Sky and Tyler stroll into the room, looking over their shoulders to wave at Seto and Brice as they go. "Hmm, but maybe next time we can just go bowling or something-" Sky is saying, but then he sees me and Jason and freezes. "Uh. I, um. Hmm."

"Oh, you're Tyler?" Jason asks, quickly growing another smile. "I remember you, we were really close friends a few years ago."

"Wait... Woah, Jason?" Tyler's eyes widen, and, for once, he doesn't look totally evil to me.

"Yeah, wow! Hey, why don't we leave them alone and catch up a bit?" Jason asks smoothly, and I thank the Heavens for this wonderful turn of events... Sort of. Now I'm stuck in a room with a Sky who hates me.

"Yeah, sure," Tyler replies, sounding starstruck. He shoots me a warning glare before he leaves. Ah, there's the Tyler I know and hate.

"So..." I say slowly, long after they've left.

Sky glares at me. "So? I've got things to do, Ty."

"What? No, you don't."

He huffs and gives me a deadlier glare. "What do you want from me?"

"Sky, I-"

"No, Ty! I don't want you looking after me, all right? I really want this thing with Tyler to work out, and..."

"Yeah, I know, I'm- I'm sorry, Sky. I really, truly am. I promise I'll let you guys have your space and everything. It's just... could you maybe stay closer to the city? Because, I mean, there's this whole Respawn Machine failure thing happening, and I'm- just, I'm worried about both of you! Please, Sky?"

He stares at me for a long time and then sighs, letting a small smile creep onto his face. "I guess we can deal with the tiny restrictions. Sorry, Ty. Didn't mean to blow up on you, but I... ah, I overreacted. Sorry."

"No big deal, mostly my fault," I wave it off. "So, wanna go do something?"

"Actually, I wanted to wait here for Seto to come back - I've been having these weird dreams?"

"Oh, I have, too," I tell him, and he raises an eyebrow.

"What about?"

"Uh, one of my friends. Dying, getting killed. Actually, _you_ 're typically the one lying dead by the end of it," I admit.

"Same. Only, um, it's usually you who ends up dead. Should we ask Seto, then?"

"Yeah, it's too weird that we're both having the same types of dreams."

"They're usually pretty... prophetic up to a point, too, and it's honestly really concerning."

"Holy crap, ditto. Geez, this is not good."

"Well, I guess all that's left to do now is wait for Seto."

"Notch, Brice, what are we going to do?"

"Shh, it'll be all right. Maybe you can magic the disease away?"

"... You may be correct, my dear friend," Seto says as he re-enters the room with Brice still in tow, and I wince in sync with Brice. That friendzone though.

"Seto!" Sky greets him happily, bouncing up to him. "You're back!"

"Yes, and we're busy. Leave us alone."

"But, Seto, it's-"

"No. Citizens dying."

"Seto, it seems a little bit important," I butt in, sending Seto a look.

That gains his attention. "Important? How? Explain."

"Well, we're having similar dreams - nightmares, actually - featuring the killings of someone in Team Crafted. The people killed are different sometimes, but it's mostly just me and Sky getting murdered."

"That's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. You'll have to see a thera-"

"No, Seto, it's different than that," Sky says, voice holding the smallest bit of desperation. "They tell the future. A little."

"A little?" Seto snorts.

"Yes, Seto," I snap, hating how helpless Sky looks and probably feels. "Listen, he's being real about this. They tell the future up until a certain point in the dream, and then they branch off into a scene where one of us gets killed."

"I still don't think that's-"

"The ratios," Sky tries, grasping for straws now. "The ratios, do you see the ratios, too?"

"Yeah, three at the beginning of each screen, black numbers on a white background," I respond, nodding my head.

"Well, we're both getting them consistently - always three, always at the beginning of each nightmare and with the same font and colors and everything. So what do they mean?"

Seto frowns, finally considering our claim that something is up. "I may have something to help us figure this out." He disappears into a room branching off of the lab, and I raise my eyebrows as he drags out a black, modern-looking machine that looks like a thin rectangle with a screen at the top. It's about the size of a normal podium, and it's got a clump of cords coming out of a hole near the bottom. "Here, we'll hook you guys up to this thing. It's extremely high-tech in that it can retrieve every single word of your last dream."

"Every single word?"

"As in every thought. Everything you said, everything you saw, heard, felt, smelled- it gives it to us in written form, as though it were a book."

"Uh- _everything_ we thought?" Sky asks nervously, and I freeze. Oh my gosh, how often do I think about Sky on a regular basis? How often do I think about Sky on a regular basis in a _dream_? How often do I think about how much I love him or care about him or miss him, and how much of that will show up on Seto's detailed screen? I'll lose him again if he finds out...

"Yes, everything," Seto confirms, rolling his eyes, and I bite my lip.

"Um, great! But you only need one of our dreams, right?" He laughs. "Might as well use Ty's, then. I've got to go find... Tyler. For a thing. That we scheduled."

"Oh," I say quietly, looking up at him and trying not to frown. "Okay. Um, have fun, Sky."

"Thanks, I will." He just leaves.

Brice raises an eyebrow. "What's _his_ problem?"

I sigh. "I have yet to find out."

"So," Seto says, "we'll hook _you_ up." He attaches several wires to different parts of my body, and then he boots up the machine and tells me to close my eyes and clear my mind. Clear my mind? How would I do that? Usually one clears things with disinfectant one has purchased at the store. But maybe a mind is different? It-

My eyes widen a bit as the machine shocks me, not enough to really hurt, but enough to scare the crap out of me. "Uh. Is it done?"

"Sure is. All right, let's take a look at this." His eyes race down the screen, and I cringe. Here it comes.

But instead of me getting humiliated (luckily _not_ in front of Sky), Seto just widens his eyes and glances up at me in disbelief. I swallow and look down.

"Mm, all right, then," Seto says, sounding a tad disoriented. Augh. "So. The ratios. 3:8, 17:28, 17:54. What could they be?"

"Maybe a math thing? Ratios usually have to do with math, right?" Brice asks, and Seto rolls his eyes again.

"Yes, usually, but not always."

"Could it be related to the alphabet? Third letter, eighth letter," I suggest.

"Twenty-eighth letter? Fifty-fourth?" Seto snorts, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine. What, then?"

"I'm not sure."

"What if it's referencing, like, uh, paragraphs and words? You did say it was written out," Brice points out.

"This is true," Seto mutters, his lips moving soundlessly as he counts up the paragraphs and words. "Third paragraph, eighth word... 'last.' What? All right, next one. Paragraph seventeen, word twenty-eight... 'watch.' Hmph. And the last one is... 'out.' Last watch out? Yeah, no, not likely."

"Maybe it means 'the last watch?'" I shrug. "Like, I dunno, like the last person on guard or something?"

"We don't have guards. Don't usually need them."

"Right. Well, then, what?"

Seto shakes his head, huffing in exasperation. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out eventually. For now, I need to find a spell to save the city."


	10. Eternal Pain Poison Be Like

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 8: Eternal Pain Poison Be Like**

 **Sky's POV**

 **2:31**

 **5:7**

 **6:2**

"Seto, no, he has to wake up! He has to, he always does!" I panic, sucking in quick, shallow breaths. "Fix him, Seto, fix him, please!"

"I can't- Sky, I _can't fix him_ , we don't have the cure," Seto says helplessly, holding up his hands and casting a simple healing spell. "I can't do any more for him than this."

"But- But, Seto, I- I can't-" I trail off, switching to my thoughts. _I can't live without Ty, Ty is my life, Ty is my everything, Ty is my world, what will I do without Ty? I love Ty, I love him more than anything, I cannot lose him!_

"Seto, I'll do anything, just _cure_ him!"

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "He's got the eternal pain poison, there's... There's nothing I can do."

The pain of the loss nearly shatters me.


	11. Suddenly, Pineapples!

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 9: Suddenly, Pineapples!**

 **Sky's POV**

I let out a sob as I shoot up into a sitting position on my bed. No, no, not Ty. Ty is _dead,_ I- What will I do without Ty? How am I expected to _go on_ without Ty? Ty is my _everything_. I can't continue without _Ty._

I sniffle a bit and glance around my house, which is terribly cold. We're getting into the winter season, I suppose. I swallow hard. Ty and I used to sled down trees. It was fun. It defied physics. We loved it.

I loved him.

I still love him.

 _Crap._

A weird, choked noise escapes my throat, and I silently curse myself for being too emotional. Dang it, Sky, Ty was Seto's friend, too, and they were really close. I don't have the right to-

My phone buzzes, and I wrinkle my nose. Who on earth would text me at 3 a.m.? I rub my eyes and then unlock the phone.

 _"Ty did his dream, it didn't make sense. Mind coming in so I could analyze yours?"_

I furrow my eyebrows. Wait... What? But that-

"The _dreams!"_ I realize, jumping out of bed, because I have to be _sure,_ I can't just go off my faulty memory with this.

I throw on a thick hoodie and run out the door. He'll still be awake, right? Seto just now texted me, so they must've just finished discussing it or whatever. A minute later, I'm just around the corner from Ty's house when someone suddenly bumps into me, causing us both to fall to the ground.

"Ow," I frown, pulling down my hoodie sleeves to go over my hands.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I need to find- Sky!"

I look up to see Ty staring at me with wide eyes, and, not a moment later, we're hugging the life out of each other. "Ty, Ty, you're okay," I breathe, pressing my face into the crook of his neck.

"I thought you were- Notch, Sky!" Ty mumbles, rubbing soothing circles into my back.

"I'm sorry for running into you," Ty apologizes after a while. I pull back so I can actually see his face. Notch, he's a _live._

"Geez, Ty, I don't care. You're not _dead,_ what else matters?"

"The fact that _you're_ not dead, either."

"Hmm, fair enough. Ty, I'm... I'm sorry for kind of being a total jerk to you today, I..."

"Yeah, no, it's fine, Sky. Just... Stay safe, okay?"

"I can do that," I whisper, pulling him back in for another hug. "Hey, would you... Like, would you mind if I... Innocently, you know, like..."

"It's okay, Sky, I won't judge."

"Thanks... Could I sleep with you tonight? Please?"

His eyes widen. Hmm, he wasn't expecting that. "I- yeah! Yeah, of course, Sky, sure! No problem."

I giggle slightly at his short ramble, and he sends me a playful glare before hauling himself to his feet and holding out a hand for me to take. "Home?" he asks.

I smile softly as I take his hand. "Yeah."

* * *

"Okay, I'm ready to do the dreamy thing, Seto," I announce as I stroll into my sorcerer friend's lab. I ran back to my house for new clothes when Ty and I woke up, and then he went to Ashley's house for something while I walked here. "How's it work?"

"Oh, hi! Uh, we'll just hook you up right here, it won't take long."

I nod as I walk over to his machine. "So, Seto, I... I, um, could you, like... Not tell anyone about my dream..?" I ask nervously, fidgeting while he hooks me up to the thingy.

He frowns. "Um, sure, I suppose the content of your dream doesn't matter all that much, so long as we figure out the ratios."

"Right, thanks, Seto," I reply, noticeably relaxing. "Where's Brice?"

"With Annie, trying to learn how to control his powers. I can't believe he hasn't blown anything up yet - if _I_ go too long without using my powers, something explodes."

"Maybe he's secretly taking midnight flights around the city."

"If so, I may have to go out after him each night for damage control."

I laugh. "Maybe so." He pats my head awkwardly, and I laugh again as he walks around the machine to look at the screen.

"All right," he says, "clear your mind..."

Clear my mind? Swish, swish, I think, waving an imaginary windshield wiper across my brain. This is fun. Haha, lots of fun. I should tell Ty about this! We could do it together-

"Ow, what the crap, Seto!?"

"Sorry," he replies, "it does that." Would've been nice if you had informed me of it, though, Seto.

"Okay, ratios. Yours are... Um. Sky..?"

Ah, he must've gotten to the part about my Ty-less existential crisis. "Oh, yeah, just, uh... Just ignore that. Not a big deal."

"But Sky-"

"Please, Seto, please don't get involved," I plead, putting my hands together like I'm praying.

"But-" He sighs. "Okay. I won't get involved. Your, uh, your ratios are 2:31, 5:7, and 6:2. Any ideas as to what they mean?"

"No, none at all," I say, sighing in defeat. "I sure would love it if they'd end, though. Some of these things are traumatizing."

"I can see," Seto mutters, printing out a copy of my dream and then turning the machine off. He shakes his head as he unhooks me from it. "You know, you really should tell him-"

"No. He's not interested anymore. I am not going to bug him."

Seto's eyes hold a million questions as well as a clear sign of protest, and I hurry toward the door. "Sky, wait, I- Ty-"

"Please don't," I whisper, and then I run out the door. Maybe I can find Tyler and hang out with him...

 **Ty's POV**

"I really think you guys should try to be friends," Ashley says, and I glare at her one more time.

"You're kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding."

"Come on, she's nice when she isn't trying to kill you!"

"I don't think you understand how messed up that sounded."

"Just give her a chance, Ty."

I wince. Why did I come over here, again? "I..." I sigh. "And she's taking her medication?"

Ashley squeals. "Yes, always."

"...So she's completely sane?"

"Totally!"

"And she's no longer 'in love' with me?"

"Eh, so-so..." she mumbles. I spin around and walk towards the exit. "No, wait! She's holding back because Skylox, I swear! She won't bother you."

I stare at her for a long time before Ashley finally breaks out the puppy eyes and I give in. "Fine. Whatever, Notch. What are we gonna do?"

"Just play some videogames with her, bond!"

"Bond?"

"Yes! I want you two bonding."

"Why?"

"Because... Yeah." She smiles apologetically.

"Right. Okay. Whatever, where is she?"

"Living room. I'll be out in the city~"

"Stop talking to me, oh my Notch."

"Fine, sure! Bye, Ty!"

"See you, Ashley," I mutter, watching as she exits and then sighing loudly on my way to the living room. Oh, boy, here we go. "Alesa?" I ask as I push open the door.

"Ty! What's up?"

"Ah, nothing, I... Are you playing Fable?"

"Yeah, wanna join me?"

"Yes, please," I reply, eyes glued to the screen. She hands me the extra controller, and I grin and load in my character from Xbox Live. "So, are you..."

"No missions. I'm about to go on a murdering spree in Bloodstone, actually," she admits, equipping her meat cleaver.

"Why?"

She shrugs. "Why not?"

Pssh. totally sane, my butt.

...

"Let's do it!"

You know, Alesa really isn't all that bad. Sure, I don't entirely trust her, but...

"Hey, Ty, you should get a husband."

"Hmm. Can second players get married?" I ask, turning my head to look at her.

"Eh, doesn't matter. I'll buy you a ring and a house, even propose so he'll follow us around, and you can take it from there."

"Hmph. How do you know I want to go after a boy instead of a girl?" I ask.

"We can even nickname the guy 'Sky,' if you want," she suggests. My face turns bright red.

"I hate you," I grumble as I turn back to the game.

"Hmm, suuuuure," she laughs. "So, who are we going for?" she asks, running in circles around Bowerstone town square.

"Uh... You pick one, I don't really care. None of them look identical to Sky, so..."

Alesa coos at me and then crawls over to sit closer to me. "Maybe you should just go after real life Sky instead."

"As if. He's over it," I huff.

She frowns. "'Over it?'"

"I, uh... yeah."

Alesa senses my discomfort and quickly moves on. "Hmm. Well, just- he cares about you, remember that. Whether it be as a friend or as more than that, he cares."

I nod, and when I swallow, it sounds horribly loud. "Sure. Yeah."

...

 _"Suddenly, Pineapples!"_ my phone shouts, and I nearly fall over. Alesa giggles.

"That's, uh, that's Sky's text tone, I should, um..."

"It's okay, Ty," she huffs out in laughter. "Hey, meet up again soon?"

"Yeah, I... Yeah. Sure. Friday..?"

"Sounds great," she replies, and I walk out the door with a smile.


	12. It's a Cliffhanger :3

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 10: It's a Cliffhanger :3**

 **Sky's POV**

 **1:17**

 **3:8**

 **4:12**

"Augh- SKY!" Ty calls, and my eyes widen in fear as he's pushed off the edge of the cliff.

"Hold on, Ty!" I beg, running to help him back up. He's holding on to the edge, but _barely,_ he's going to _fall-_

"Sky!" shouts another voice, and am I having a horrible dream, or am I being forced to choose between Tyler and Ty?

How do I choose between _Tyler and Ty?_ This is a power that I don't want to have.

"Sky, help me!" Tyler yells, and his eyes go wide with terror as his glasses fall off his nose and into the void. "SKY!"

"S-Sky," Ty says quietly, hopelessly, and it kills me to know he already understands my choice. His fingers slip and I begin to second-guess myself.

I-


	13. And Thus

_My apologies for missing a few days of Nano, guys. I went on a retreat thingy, it was really cool but I couldn't bring my laptop and I accidentally left my backpack (and notebook) at home. D:_

 _Anywayssss, en-juh-hoy this fairly long chapter, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers! Have a lovely night. :)_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 11: And Thus**

 **Sky's POV**

I shake my head as Tyler approaches. "Hey, Tyler, what's up?"

"Nothing, really, I just got back from hanging out with Jason. Notch, he's great, Sky. We used to be so close, but then I moved to a different city. A few years later, I moved back so I could... take care of something for my cousin, and now-" He lets out a squeal and then slaps his hand over his mouth. "I- um. Hmm."

"It's fine, jabber away," I laugh, but I'm losing him and I know it. Maybe I _should_ have let him kiss me on that hike... "Ty will be here soon," I say to interrupt my own thoughts.

Tyler's eyebrows shoot up. "What?"

"Ty's coming."

"No dip, Sky, I heard you. But _why_ is he coming?"

"Well, I thought we could all hang out together..."

"Notch, you're an idiot," Tyler grumbles.

"Be on your best behavior," I command, and he rolls his eyes.

"Yes, sir," he says, giving me a fake salute. I giggle.

"Hey, Sky, I got your text- ohhh, I'll just be going now..." Ty spins on his heels and runs the second he sees Tyler. Ahem, I think not.

"Ty, wait! Please?" I ask, pleading with my eyes for his cooperation. He stares at me for a few long moments, and then he sighs and walks back toward us.

"Fine. Just... Just for a bit, Sky. Got anything planned?"

"I- I thought maybe we could go with our classic parkour pastime?" I ask, voice going up a pitch or two at the end of my sentence.

"You..." Ty sighs again and looks down. "Sure. Sure, okay, I'm up for it. Uh, Tyler?"

"Why not?" Tyler shrugs, glancing warily at Ty. "Not a problem, right?"

"Not at all," Ty confirms, flicking his eyes up to meet mine and then looking straight back down at his feet. Ty..?

"All right!" I clap my hands together and grin. "Let's go."

* * *

"Jump!" Ty calls, and I shriek as I jump off the boat and onto the platform.

"Ty, the _squids!_ One of them _touched_ me," I say dramatically, falling back into his arms.

"Wow, how tragic," he scoffs, but he holds me anyway. Why can't we just do this all the time?

"Hey, Sky," Tyler says, grabbing my hand and yanking me away from Ty. My eyes widen, and I stumble at first, but then I adjust and laugh as I run after him. Can't let them know how disappointed I am at the lack of contact with Ty. "Look at this section of the map! It's made purely of _budder!"_

Hmph. Not nearly as pleasing as Ty holding me.

"Yesss," I whisper, playing up my excitement to hide my disappointment. "Budder always..."

"Race you to the checkpoint!" Tyler calls, and I would love to wait for Ty, but Tyler's already sprinting off.

"Hey, no fair!" I shout, just like they both expected me to. I dart off after Tyler, determined to beat him.

"Muahaha, the budder is mine!" Tyler taunts me, slowly opening the chest. I wrinkle my nose as I catch up.

"Rude," I huff. "Sharing is caring!"

"But caring isn't sharing."

I glare at him and snatch half of the budder out of his hands. "Rawr. Mine."

"Fine, fine," he consents. "But we should ditch Ty."

I frown. "Why?"

"He's holding us back," Tyler replies, shrugging. "He's so _slow-"_

 _"AND THUS, THE AMAZING TY SPED PAST THE TWO SLOWPOKES,"_ Ty announces, flying through the air and landing in a pool of water about fifty blocks ahead of us. He splutters in the water, and I try not to laugh as I raise an eyebrow at Tyler.

"Slow, huh?"

Tyler huffs and stomps forward, and I let loose that laugh. To be perfectly honest, I'd rather stay with a slow Ty than a fast Tyler, anyway.

"Ty, wait up!" I giggle, running to the water. "CANNON BALL!"

"Notch, Sky," he snorts, shaking his head and climbing out of the water. He holds out a hand for me to grab, and I grin. Except then Tyler jumps in next to me and splashes me and Ty, causing Ty to wrinkle his nose and back away from us.

Sigh.

"Sky, c'mere," Tyler says excitedly. I look over at him, and he nods and waves his hands down at the water. "It's a secret passage!"

My eyes widen. "Ooh," I say as I swim over to him. "Where?"

"Below the water," he responds. "Let's go down it!"

I shrug my agreement and dive under the water with him. Let's see, where is it? What does it even look like, just a hole in the bottom of the pool? Hmm, I'm running out of time air-wise. I start to push up above the water and ask Tyler where he saw it, but then something tugs down on my ankle. Woah, what? One of my hearts disappears from lack of air as I look down and find some kind of plant wrapped around my foot.

Oh.

Crap.

I reach down to try to untangle it all, but I'm already at half-hearts. Crap, crap, _crap,_ stop _burning,_ chest, I'm trying to _do_ something! Dang, Ty was be _yond_ right, dying _sucks._

"Notch," I breathe as I respawn at the checkpoint. "I'll never get used to the Respawn Machine _actually_ working."

Tyler's eyebrows furrow. "Right. Thank Notch for that Respawn Machine."

"Sky," Ty says, voice shaking as he wraps his arms around me. "You freaking _idiot,_ Notch." Oh. Dear.

"I, uh... Yeah. Sorry, Ty." Please don't let go.

Tyler clears his throat. Ty lets go.

Frickin' Tyler.

"So, Tyler. Where was that _secret passage_ you were talking about?" Ty asks, his voice tense now.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I don't think it even exists, actually - I must have mistaken that seaweed for a hole in the bottom of the pool," Tyler replies, equally tense.

"Ah, the seaweed. Wonder how it got so tangled on Sky's foot..."

Tyler bristles. "I don't know, Ty. Good thing the Respawn Machine is on. Sometimes it breaks, just... out of the blue."

Ty grits his teeth and grabs my hand. "Come on, Sky, let's move on."

"I... okay." I blink a few times and run after him.

No use getting left behind in the conversation _and_ the map.

 **Ty's POV**

A few hours later, and I'm fuming. Freaking Tyler, trying to murder freaking SkyDoesMinecraft, trying to freaking threaten me for wanting my freaking best friend to be freaking safe-

"All right, there, Ty?" Seto asks as I stomp into his lab.

"Yes. Fine." I take a deep breath, let it out slowly. "I'm fine."

Seto raises an eyebrow. "Sky?"

"Close."

"Ah, Tyler."

"Spot on. Notch, why does Sky like him?"

"He's you."

"Way to be offensive, Seto. I didn't _want_ to kill Sky at the squid base!"

"How does that even- that's not what I meant."

"Can we just- What are your plans for today?"

Seto glares at me and then sighs. "Fine, we won't talk about it. I'm going to the city soon, going to try out a mass healing spell of sorts. Wanna come?"

"Sure, where's Brice?"

"Not here. I asked him to come - I could use his extra bit of magic for such a big spell, and I... _kinda_ just wanted him to be there." He blushes and looks down, and I sigh. Looks like we're _both_ having boy troubles. "But he said he had better things to do than constantly tag along as my 'little apprentice pet.' So... yeah." He sees my expression and waves his hands in a placating manner. "It's okay! I mean, I can do it on my own, it'll just be a bit more of a strain. And he _does_ have better stuff to do." I open my mouth, but he glares at me again and cuts me off. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Are we flying, or..?"

"Oh, yes, and I should probably get you a jetpack in case my magic gives out while we're in the air."

"Wait- what? Your magic could _actually_ give out?" I ask, eyes wide.

"Well- yes. But it's highly unlikely, and the jetpack is just a precaution," he assures me.

"Notch. I, um- all right. How do I turn it on?"

"This button in the corner- no, don't turn it on yet. I'll fly you up with my magic, the jetpack is only for emergencies. All right, _now_ are we ready?"

"Yessir!" I reply, mock-saluting him. He rolls his eyes and casts a spell on me, sending me hurtling out the door. "Seto!" I screech, and he laughs.

"Don't worry, I've got control," he giggles, slowing me down and moving me closer to him. "So, why'd you come to the lab?"

"Mad at Tyler, and since my other two best friends certainly won't listen to me rant, I came to you," I reply, shrugging slightly.

"Hmm, all right. Why do you dislike Tyler so much?"

I furrow my eyebrows. What's safe enough to voice? "I just... I don't approve of him."

"I thought you _did_ approve of him."

"Hmph."

"So you're _jealous_."

"Stop, I'm not-"

"Oh, come, now, Ty. I already know how you feel about Sky - you can talk to me."

"I - fine, whatever, I'm a little bit jealous. But, Seto, it's more than that! I don't - I don't trust him, and - I'm _afraid_ , Seto. I'm _so_ afraid he'll hurt Sky."

"Hey, Sky will be fine, okay? First of all, he's got close friends left and right. We'll protect him. Second, Tyler really doesn't seem like the type to want to end someone's life," Seto says, and I frown. "Regardless, the Respawn Machine is up and running as smoothly as ever."

"Yes, I- Yeah. I guess. Um... Thanks, Seto."

"Not a problem, Ty. You... You should tell him."

"Sky?"

"Who else?"

"I... I can't. Definitely not. He doesn't want that, it would be _so_ awkward." I pause, thinking of a way to change the subject. "What exactly happened with Brice?" Smooth.

"Oh. I, um... I'm not sure, if we're being honest. I- He doesn't really want to, um, talk to me anymore."

"Woah, what?"

"He... Brice thinks that I don't care about him, and... I don't even know what I did, but I sure do wish I hadn't done it. Ty, he... Brice is my best friend, I don't-"

"Woah, hey, Seto, you're okay, it's okay!" He's not crying, he doesn't usually show that much emotion, but he's gasping for air and wiping his sweater paws across his eyes and so obviously trying to stay strong, and this is pitiful. Next time I see Brice, I'm punching him in the face. How could he think Seto _doesn't even care?_ How could anyone?

"Can we- do you mind if we talk about something else?" he asks, and he sounds so fragile that I feel like I _have_ to hug him again, just to hold together the pieces of a breaking Seto.

"Not at all. What kind of spell are you about to cast, and why does it have to be cast from this far above the city?"

He looks horribly relieved as he answers. "Oh, um, it's... it's sort of a suction spell - a mix between that and a mass healing spell. It pulls the disease out of the people and the environment."

"And where does it put it?" I ask, eyes wide. "Don't tell me it puts the disease into _you."_

"Only if I do the spell wrong or my magic is too strained to handle it." He sees my expression and rolls his eyes. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Regardless, you've got the jetpack if my magic fails and we fall."

"That- That's not the issue, here, Seto!" I protest, throwing my hands up helplessly. "What will happen if you take in all the crap from the spell?"

"I won't, Ty."

"Seto, you said earlier that your magic would already be a bit strained!"

"So what? It happens! This isn't meant to be cast on more than one person at a time, I'm taking a necessary risk by bumping up the power and trying to sprinkle it over the entire city. It can't be prevented, Ty, people are dying!"

"And what good will it do if _you_ start dying, too? Let me call Brice, he'll come and help and you won't be so strained."

"He doesn't want to help me," Seto growls, and my eyes widen. Notch, scary Seto is scary.

"But, Seto- look, I'm sure he didn't mean whatever he said. He _cares_ about you."

Seto flicks his wrist, and then his own voice fills the air, though his mouth doesn't move. "Brice! Mind coming with me to cast a spell on the city?"

"No, I've got a thing planned with Annie," Brice's voice replies.

"Ah, all right. Free afterwards?"

"Seto, I've got better things to do then follow you around being your little apprentice pet."

"I- Sorry, I-"

"Hmm, sorry. _Sorry._ As if. You don't care, Seto. You never care, at least not about anything other than your potions and spells!"

"Woah. Brice, I-"

"Only want me to tag along because I've got some of your stupid magic in me? I know, don't worry."

"I just want-"

"To get your magic back and be done with it. Notch, sorcerers _are_ heartless. Listen, don't try to talk to me anymore. I'd love it if I could avoid hearing from you ever again."

"Brice," Seto whimpers, voice cracking as the sound of a door slamming fills the air. The audio ends, and real Seto closes his eyes.

"Yeah, Ty. He totally cares about me. He totally cares about a heartless- h-heartless sorcerer." He bites his lip, _hard,_ and I'm afraid he'll draw blood.

"Seto," I whisper, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Seto, you are _not_ heartless, and we _all_ know it, including- _especially_ Brice."

"Then why- why would he-" A sob escapes his throat, and he yelps and slaps a hand over his mouth for a moment. "C-Crap. I..." He swallows.

"Do you remember when..." He blinks a few times, taps his fingers against his leg. "Do you remember when, several, several years ago, the city used to see me as... as an antagonistic wizard who was incapable of experiencing emotion? And it was... bad. It was really, really bad."

"Of course I remember," I say, and he's right, it _was_ bad. The citizens - excluding Team Crafted, that is - would avoid him at all costs and sneer at or cower away from him whenever he passed by and they would even try to blow up his slowly developing lab. It was ridiculous, because he'd never done anything to hurt them. But one day he had fallen off a building in the city, and it looked and sounded horrible, but he just gritted his teeth and chanted something, and he was fine. The citizens, on the other hand, were horrified. Thought he was a necromancer or something, which hardly even makes sense since the Respawn Machine never broke back then. Anyways, that's what started it, and not even a recognition from Sky could end it.

"But then Brice got hurt, and he was terrified of respawning 'cause he'd watched some dumb horror movie the night before, and so he called me to come get him. I flew into the city, found him, and gave him a _band-aid,_ and then I held him while he cried. Notch, he was terrified. And he sniffed and said, 'Thank you, Seto,' in this adorable but broken voice, and... and the citizens noticed." Seto wipes his face again. "And it just got better from there. Brice... Brice _saved_ me, Ty, and he _knows_ how hard it was for me _before_ he did that, and yet... Why- Why would he say that to me unless he _completely_ believed it?" He sniffles and looks up at me, begging with his eyes for a reason, an explanation.

"I'm going to punch him," is all I manage to say.

Seto bursts into tears.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm- crap, I'm not supposed to cry this much, I-" He cuts himself off with another sob.

"Woah, hey, it's fine!"

"No, it's not, too much emotion, I-" Part of my jetpack explodes, and my eyes go wide. "Crap, I'm sorry, that was me, I'll fix it..." He waves a hand toward me. "Fixed. I-" Sniff, swallow, deep breath. "Sorry. I'm fine. Under control."

"Are you sure?" I ask, concerned. He looks down for a moment and then back up at me, smiling weakly.

"Absolutely. Ready for the spell?"

"Seto, I don't think you should attempt this immediately after having a breakdown like that-"

"It wasn't a breakdown, I'm fine. I don't need Brice, okay?"

"O-Okay..." Yeah, right. Those two depend on each other for everything. Why would Brice even _think..._

I can't _wait_ to punch him.

"All right," Seto breathes, glancing down at the city below us. "I can do this."

"I know you can," I whisper, and he flashes a smile at me.

" _Movere morbo ad nubes. Occidere dolor. Subito fructus."_ He exhales slowly, sneaks a worried glance at me. Then he flicks his wrists at the city below.

Purple light bursts forth from his hands, mouth, and eyes, and I gasp. "S-Seto..?" The purple rains down on the city and fizzes on contact as it slowly turns to a disgusting shade of green. Then it floats back up, slowly, slowly, painstakingly slowly, past Seto, towards the clouds above us...

But Seto is trembling and letting out a pained yelp and then the green specks are zooming towards Seto and he's crying out and purple light is exploding from around him but the scary green specks of light are too much and he's not okay, he can't handle this, it's too much-

"SETO!" I shout as the green pierces through his skin and we both begin to fall. "Crap." I hit the button on my jetpack, but I'm not the only one who needs to keep from falling. Seto's body falls fast toward the city, so I aim for his direction and up the power, causing my jetpack to shoot me down towards Seto. Oh, but he's falling fast, _too_ fast.

"Seto!" I yell again, and that's the end of that.


	14. Paint the Town Red

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 12: Paint the Town Red**

 **Ty's POV**

 **1:9**

 **2:27**

 **3:6**

Seto falls, falls fast, falls faster, and he's not slowing down. Come on, I can't get there in time! No, no, slow down, crap, up the power on the jetpack, go, go, go, _why won't it go faster-_

I'm so close! I _have to catch him_ , go _go_ go, he's one of my closest friends, I can't let him fall! Aside from that, literally everyone in the city is depending on him, they won't be able to survive this disease without him.

So close. _Closer, closer,_ Seto is going to be _okay-_

The snow-covered streets around us end up splattered in a haunting shade of red.


	15. They're Gonna Have a Bad Time

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 13: They're Gonna Have a Bad Time**

 **Brice's POV**

"I feel terrible," I sob into Annie's shirt. "I just - I was hurt, and I said a bunch of dumb things that I didn't mean, that I could never mean, and I - I cannot be _lieve_ myself."

"Yeah, that was- wow, Brice," she breathes disbelievingly.

"Ohhhh, Notch," I groan. "Annie, he used to be so depressed. He doesn't really care what _random_ people think of him anymore, but it used to be really hard on him. Imagine an entire city believing you to be heartless! He even believed it himself, sometimes - Notch, it was horrible. And now I'm... Now I've... _Notch."_

"You done goofed, Brice," Annie sighs. "You need to apologize."

"I know, but I just - Annie, what if he hates me?" I whimper.

"Hates you? Trust me, he won't hate you. That boy depends on you as though you're still housing his life source."

I frown. "Even though I'm not?"

"Even though you're not," Annie laughs. "You mean the world to him, Brice."

"But- But Alesa said-"

"Oh, dear. Alesa's my friend, but she gets all the wrong points across, even with her medicine, and especially if her listener is distracted. What did she say?" Annie asks.

"Well, she was talking about how to know if someone cares about you - they play jump maps with you every chance they get and they use any excuse to hangout with you and they make bad partner choices to try to make you jealous and they get themselves banned from pizzerias with you and-"

"You idiot."

"What?"

"That sounds like _Sky and Ty's_ relationship."

"Well, yeah, she was talking about Sky and Ty."

"Oh my gosh, this wasn't Alesa's fault at all - you're just a total moron."

"What do you mean?"

"Brice, of _course_ Seto doesn't act that way around you, which, I think, is where you were going with that. Seto doesn't act that way around _anyone_ , dimwit, and neither do you. Alesa was describing how _Sky_ and _Ty_ show they care and also, most-likely, why Skylox is obvious. It doesn't apply to Seto, who acts much more subtly most of the time," Annie explains.

"I- Oh. So... _Oh."_ My eyes widen. "Now I feel even worse."

"You should," she scoffs, "imbecile. Now go apologize to your soon-to-be boyfriend."

"My- what?"

She laughs. "Just go!"

"Fine, fine - snap, hold on," I say as my phone blares its ringtone. "Hello-"

"Brice, crap, you _idiot_ \- come to the lab. _Now,"_ Ty's voice commands, shaky and scared and breathless, and my eyes widen.

"What? Why?"

"Brice, _please,_ it's Seto, the spell strained him too much, he couldn't handle it and _oh_ Notch, _he won't wake up,_ Brice."

"He- oh, Notch," I breathe, nearly dropping the phone. "It's- It's my fault."

"Doesn't matter, get yourself down here before I drag you here myself. Bring a few others, too, preferably some that can find their way around a laboratory."

"S-Sure. I-"

"Be here in ten minutes or less. Bye." He hangs up.

"We're going to see Seto," I say quietly, grabbing Annie's hand.

"What happened?" she asks as I drag her out the door.

I take off sprinting down the sidewalk. "I dunno, he - he won't wake up, Ty says he strained his magic or something, I'm _scared,_ Annie, what if he's not okay, this is all my _fault-"_

"Shh, calm down. If you pass out, it'll be ages before we get there," she huffs, shooting ahead of me and urging me to catch up. "Come on, slowpoke."

We burst into the lab in a flurry of panicked screaming (me) and controlled optimism (Annie). "Where is he? Ty? Ty!? Has Seto woken up yet?"

"Room on the left, he's alive but still unconscious," Ty's voice replies, sounding highly preoccupied. _"Get in here."_

I don't waste any time in throwing the door open and running inside. "Seto! Seto, Seto, I'm _sorry,"_ I say, biting my lip as I skid to a stop in front of the bed he's on. Hospital bed. Seriously? I look up at Ty nervously.

"Don't ask - it was already set up when I came in. There's a little instruction list of what to do if a citizen falls ill with the disease, so I just-"

"The disease? What do you mean?" I ask, eyes widening even more - assuming that's possible.

"I mean he _has the disease,_ Brice. Only we didn't even get a warning period or any symptoms or _anything_ before he reached the long-term unconscious stage because he _sucked in all the disease from the city,_ and then it all sprinkled back over the city again, and it did no good whatsoever, and Seto was the only one who had any chance of stopping it, and the Respawn Machine doesn't apply to the disease, Brice! He won't respawn if he dies! What do we _do?"_ Ty rambles, breathing in short, quick breaths that are the exact opposite of the breaths that the internet advises you to take in this sort of situation.

"He has the disease. _He has the disease,"_ I mutter, and then I fall down onto the bed next to Seto. "How could he have the disease?"

"He was emotionally unstable, kept freaking out about you hating him. And then he went and tried to do an already difficult spell _anyways,_ and it was going semi-well except then all the disease particle things that were flying into the sky flew into _Seto_ instead, and Seto fell out of the sky and I randomly passed out for like two seconds but then I woke up and I just _barely_ caught him before he hit the ground and then we both landed in a pile of snow that I'm really glad was there. Brice, how can we heal him? We don't have a cure and now we don't even have a Seto, how can we _possibly_ heal him?"

"I- I-" I swallow hard. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Both of you, sit down in those chairs and take a breather, all right?" Annie demands, pulling me off of and away from the hospital bed. "Stop freaking out, it's helping literally nothing. I'll go play around with some of Seto's pre-made potions, maybe make some of my own, and then we'll do a few tests. Okay?"

"Don't you _dare_ say 'okay' back," I threaten Ty as he opens his mouth. He zips it shut again and just nods instead.

"Good. Stay here and _rest_ until I get back."

The wait is excruciating, filled with nothing but me staring worriedly at Seto, tearing my bottom lip to shreds, trying to think of how we could possibly fix this. Come on, Brice, think! How does _Seto_ always come up with a solution so quickly?

He's clever, that's how.

Ugh.

I don't know.

"Maybe I can use some of the little magic I have-"

"You don't know how to use it, you might make it worse. Sit back, Brice." Ty takes a deep breath, calming him _self_ down. "He's gonna be okay. We'll take care of it somehow - eventually. For now, just sit back, and... breathe. Like Annie said, okay?"

"How? How can I just _sit back and breathe_ with the knowledge that Seto could _stop breathing_ at any second? Ty, this is _my_ fault, I wouldn't go with him to help with the spell, I got his emotions all outta whack with my bullcrap reactions to things, it is ultimately _my fault_ that he is _dying_ -"

"Brice, _stop-"_

"No, I _can't!_ Ty, I can't- he's my- I can't go without-" I cut myself off, choking on my sobs and trying to ignore the burning sensation around my eyes.

"Crap, Brice, _your eyes-"_

"What?" I snap, glaring at him and willing myself not to let the tears loose. Does he have to bring it up?

"They're on _fire."_

That's- not what I was expecting. "I'm sorry, fire?"

"Yeah, fire."

"Like, _fire_ fire?"

"Yeah. Fire fire."

"Frick."

"Hmm, yes. It's gone now, though."

"Wow, um- okay. What did it look like..?"

"Yellow. Like Seto's purple magic, but the color of your hair. Well..." He gives my gravity-defying hair an appraising glance. "The previous color of your hair."

"Oh, I forgot the black hadn't grown out yet."

"You also forgot Seto's predicament," Ty replies, smirking victoriously as Annie zooms into the room with an armful of potions. My jaw drops, and I struggle to close it.

"Well, I- Thank you. I guess."

"No problem. Your eyes actually _were_ on fire, though. It was kind of creepy."

"I'm back," Annie says, cutting our conversation short. She gives Seto five Potions of Healing, eight Potions of Regeneration, and two odd-looking potions that I've never seen before. She makes me read aloud a weak spell she found written down in the potion room, and then she force-feeds Seto a Notch apple.

Nothing happens.

"Crap," I mutter, having grown bored of repeating the useless spell over and over. "W-What now?"

"Now you rest again, since you've managed to wear yourself out already," she says, her tone making it clear that I have no choice in the matter.

"I'll call Sky and the others," Ty says dejectedly, exiting the room.

"This," Annie sighs, "could be bad."


	16. DANG IT, TYLER

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 14: DANG IT, TYLER.**

 **Sky's POV**

"Ooh. So, I guess it didn't really help, making its protection so complicated," he says.

"Well, I mean, it works pretty well _now._ Only the Team has access, and we don't really plan on going psycho anytime soon," I reply, shrugging.

"Haha, nice, there's a troll face made out of redstone."

"Yeah, Bodil and... Bashur, I think? They did that. They aren't very good with serious projects," I laugh, and Tyler smiles.

"I guess not. Mind if I look around? I'm really into redstone."

"Yeah, go ahead, no problem. We could talk to Seth later, if you want-"

"Nah, it's fine," he says, smiling still. I grin. "Wanna go get coffee or something after this?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Cool! I'll be out in, like, five minutes."

"Take your time," I shrug, waving it off. "It's hot in here, I'm gonna wait outside."

"Okay!" he shouts as I make my way out of the Respawn Machine's room. I'll bet Tyler and Seth would get along really well since they're both so interested in redstone. I mean, I had no idea Tyler liked redstone until now! Hey, you learn something new every day.

Tyler slips out of the obsidian room, and I move past him to lock up the main entrance again. "Ready to go?"

"You betcha," he replies, but then my phone rings. I sigh. "Just ignore it, Sky."

I snort. "Last time I ignored a phone call, my best friend almost died in a toaster." He clamps his mouth shut, and I giggle as I answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Sky," Ty's voice says, and he sounds small, he sounds scared. He clears his throat. "Sky, please come to the lab. Seto's got the disease, he won't wake up, and could you please collect the rest of the Team on the way here?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course! Hey, don't worry, Ty, he'll be fine."

"No, Sky, we've tried every potion available! Brice even attempted a spell. Seto won't wake up. And the rest of the city is still getting the disease and passing out and they're all going to die, Sky, because _we can't save them!"_ His breaths are shallow and quick, and my eyes are wide.

"Shh, it's all right, we'll figure it out," I say consolingly. "I'll be there with the others as soon as possible."

"Thank you," he says quietly, and then he hangs up.

"Well. Change of plans!" I huff, though I'm not mad, more just worried. "Sorry, Tyler."

"Oh, uh- it's fine. What's up?"

"Seto. I've got to gather the rest of the Team - wanna come?"

"Why not?" he asks, and off we go.

"IS HE DEAD?"

"FRICKITY FRICK FRICK FRICK."

"CRAAAAAAAP."

"HE'S DEAD, ISN'T HE!?"

"FUH-RICK!"

"SETOOOO!"

"HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN'T CALL ME A FISH ALL THE TIME!"

"WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW, FISH?"

"SHUT UP!"

"You're all so _loud,"_ I groan, covering my ears, and they all give me very judgmental glares. "Where's Seto?" I ask, successfully ignoring them.

Ty peeks out of a room on the left. "In here, guys."

"Is he okay?" Jason asks - he's one of the only ones who wasn't screaming.

"No, he's not okay at all," Brice says, voice cracking, and, oh, _Brice._ I didn't think about how this would affect _him._

"What, exactly, happened?" I ask. "Shouldn't we have been seeing symptoms of the disease for a while now?"

"No, he-" Ty glares at Seto's body, motionless except for the up and down movement of his chest. "The freaking _idiot_ tried a spell he _knew_ he couldn't do, just so he could _maybe_ heal the city, and- and it was too much. He passed out after sucking in half the disease in the city."

"Were you there?" Quentin asks, having sobered up considerably after seeing Seto.

"Yeah, I had a back-up jetpack."

"Why'd he do the spell if he knew it wouldn't end well?" Ian asks.

Brice bursts into tears and runs out of the room, and Annie curses and runs after him. "Wait up, Brice!"

Ty winces. "He's... He thinks it's his fault. It kind of is, a little bit? But Seto would have forgiven him by now - it wouldn't have taken him more than three seconds to get over it."

"Just give him time. We'll fix Seto and then both of them will be fine," I promise, moving to stand by Ty. "It'll be okay."

"Or something," he mutters, looking down. I frown, and somehow my hands manages to make its way to his.

He smiles a little, though still looking down, and I squeeze his hand reassuringly.

Quentin and Ian studiously ignore us while Mitch and Jerome make a series of disbelieving sounds. Must they gasp so loudly? Jason's eyes flick down to our joined hands and then back up several times, but he ultimately decides not to mention it. "We should probably learn the symptoms, in case any of us get sick while caring for Seto," he says instead.

"What will we do if one of us _does_ get sick?" Mitch asks, snapping out of his previously unending cycle of gasps and googly eyes.

"I... don't know," Jason sighs. "But we'll figure it out."

"Anyone know the symptoms?" Jerome asks.

"Exhaustion, coughing, trouble breathing, a slight tingling in all parts of the body, and, finally, a light numbness in the fingers and toes. Then you pass out," Annie informs us as she re-enters the lab. "The stages happen at different times depending on the person."

"Where's Brice?" Ty asks.

"Ah, he's trying to work away his emotions, checking various parts of the city."

"Is he okay?" asks Tyler innocently, and Ty's eyes go wide.

"Why is _he_ here?"

"He's my friend, he wanted to come," I reply, abruptly dropping Ty's hand. "Problem?"

"Guess not," Ty mutters, slipping into a different room of the lab. For a moment, I consider following him, but then Tyler taps on my shoulder and asks if he can see the rest of the lab, because maybe he can help somehow.

So I shrug and take him on a tour.

"Good luck!" Jason calls before leading Mitch and Jerome out the door to find Brice, and then everyone splits up to do different things. We wave, and then we're off.

"What's the most secretive part of the lab?" Tyler asks before we've even left the room.

"I don't know. The potion room, I guess..? There aren't any windows, and there's only one door. Why?"

"I wanna try something..."

"Sky-"

I spin around to see Ty standing uncertainly in front of the door to the side room he entered earlier. "Sky," he tries again, glancing between me and Tyler, "maybe you should... I don't think you should... well. Never mind." He swallows hard, waves awkwardly.

I wave back, and then Tyler and I exit the room.

Ty's POV

He won't believe me, he never does. He'll be mad at me and Tyler will want to hurt him even more and it's fine, anyways, because the Respawn Mechanism is on.

"The Respawn Mechanism is off!" Brice shouts as he bursts back into the lab, and I dart toward the potion room without a second thought.

I'm there in four seconds flat, throwing open the door and pinning Tyler against the wall all in one motion. "What did you do," I growl, and it's hardly even a question because I _know_ he did something.

"I played around," he says quietly, smirking in a way that's absolutely terrifying.

"I won't let you hurt him," I hiss.

"Ty, what are you _doing!?"_ Sky asks, sounding appalled. The rest of the Team enters the room and stares at me in horror.

"Ty, the Respawn Machine is _off_ , did you not hear me!?" Brice asks.

"I- But he- _Guys!"_ I protest, glancing around at all of them.

"Are you okay?" Jason asks Tyler as he helps him away from me, and, oh, come on! My sword was _barely_ pressing against his neck!

"Yeah, I- I think so," Tyler stutters, and I gape at him. "Wow, he... That's a sharp blade."

"But I didn't even- He's the one who turned off the Respawn Machine!" I shout. "He's going to hurt Sky!"

"I- I would never hurt Sky, he's my _friend!"_ Tyler breathes, sounding horrified. "Not all of us are as disloyal as you!"

A tense silence falls over the room for a few long moments. Sky glances uncertainly between me and Tyler, but he doesn't say anything.

Good to know he still believes in me.

"He's right," Jason says quietly. "You... You can't just randomly accuse him of that."

"To hate him for no good reason is one thing, but to _attack_ him... That's not okay, Ty," Sky whispers, and my heart nearly breaks. No, no, I didn't mean to disappoint Sky, I meant to _save_ Sky! "Especially knowing the Respawn Machine is off..."

"But- Sky, he- Jason, guys, you don't get it! He-" My eyes go wide, and I cut myself off the moment Tyler moves that one step closer to Sky. He smiles innocently, and I beg him with my eyes not to hurt my best friend.

"I think you should go," Mitch says awkwardly, looking down at his feet.

"Um, Annie and I are gonna look for an extra gentleness potion to fix the Respawn Machine with. Sky, could you stay with Tyler? He looks kind of traumatized. Ty, I, uh... I think Mitch is right, you... You should go, erm, cool off for a while," Brice says carefully.

"I-" My fingers clench and unclench around the hilt of my sword.

I blink back tears and run out of the lab.


	17. All About that Death

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 15: Because You Know I'm All About that Death, 'Bout that Death, nO LIVING**

 **Ty's POV**

 **3:2**

 **3:38**

 **4:25**

I'm almost out the door when I hear it, the most terrifying sound in all of existence - Sky.

 _Screaming._

I'm really truly not any type of wizard, but by the amount of time it took me to appear back in the potion room, I might as well have teleported. "I'm giving you three seconds to get your hands in the air-" I begin, planning to go total cop-style. I'll do it the professional way, okay? And then maybe my friends will respect me enough to _listen to me._

"They're up, Ty," replies the bane of my existence, and I'm about to snap out some stupid remark, but then I see my best friend lying unconscious on the floor.

Unconscious?

 _Or dead?_

My eyes fly open as wide as they've ever gone, and I choke on my words as I drop to my knees next to Sky. No, no, please, this can't be happening, this isn't happening, why didn't they _believe_ me? Why, why, why is Sky not waking up? "W-Wake up, please," I beg, putting my hands on his shoulders and shaking him lightly. "Please, please, p-please, Sky!"

"It was easier than I thought it would be, in the end," Tyler informs me, shrugging casually as he walks nearer and waves the empty potion bottle in front of my face. "Potion of Instant Death. Pretty neat, if I do say so myself."

"I-I'll kill you," I threaten through the tears, not trusting myself to look even remotely intimidating if I look up at him. "I'll _kill_ you."

"Sure you will," Tyler replies, nodding and rolling his eyes. "To be honest, I'm not all that concerned for my health. I mean, you said you wouldn't let me hurt Sky, and we see how well that went. You clearly don't have the power to follow through with anything you say."

"I- I-I-" I can't breathe, I can't breathe, my chest hurts, I'm _shaking_ , I'm _sobbing,_ I'm not o _kay._ "S-Sky..."

"Well, that was fun while it lasted," Tyler says, walking towards the door. "Thanks for giving me a bit of a challenge there. You almost had me earlier.

"Later!"


	18. Cough Cough, Hack Hack, DiE DIE

_DOODLE DOODLE DOOP DOOP AYYYYY_

 _THIS CHAPTER IS ALL OVER THE PLACE XD_

 _WE'VE GOT TEARS, THREATS, VIOLENT HUGS, CHAINSAW DRAGONS_

 _MAN I DONT EVEN KNOW ANYMORE XD_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 16: Cough Cough, Hack Hack, DiE DIE**

 **Sky's POV**

"I- Maybe I should-" I bite my lip. He definitely shouldn't have attacked Tyler like that out of no where, but he's still my best friend. And that loyalty comment that Tyler made was totally uncalled for.

I... I'm worried about Ty.

"Hey, Sky? Does Ty have anger issues?" Tyler asks innocently, and I glare at him.

"Notch, shut up, Tyler."

"Oh. Okay."

A twinge of guilt hits me, but I ignore it and start toward the door of the lab.

"So... Does he just not like it when you make new friends, or...?"

I pause for only half a second. "I don't know."

"Maybe he just wants to keep you on your feet? Maybe he doesn't want you to settle down and be _happy."_

"I- I don't..."

"Perhaps he just doesn't like your smile."

"He's not- I..." I wipe my gloved hand across my eyes, and, no, stop, I shouldn't be breaking down this quickly. It's not true, Ty is my best friend, I...

Tyler's eyes widen and soften. "Hey, what do I know? Maybe he's just a bit selfish and wants you all to himself! That could be."

"No," I sniffle, trying to keep from full-on crying. "He-" Too late. "He _doesn't_ want me anymore, 'cause I _jacked_ up and ruined everything and he's _over_ it now and I- I-"

"Woah, shh, calm down. Come here," Tyler says softly, setting down the black potion he was holding and pulling me into a hug.

"There's only one Ty," I sob, and Tyler holds me tightly and runs his fingers through my hair.

"I know, I know. But that one Ty _does_ care about you, I promise."

"N-Not in the way I w-want him to, though," I stammer between breaths. "W-Why'd I hafta screw it up so badly, Tyler?"

"I don't- I have no clue what you're talking about," he replies, shaking his head. "But I know you can fix it if you try."

"I... Thank you," I choke out, trying to take deep breaths. "Sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"No, it's fine, I'm sorry for poking you."

"I... We should probably go... do something." I suggest, nearly fully recovered. "And if you don't mind, I- I'd like to go talk to Ty, o-on my own."

He looks at me for a long time, glances back longingly at the black potion, and then sighs. "Sure! We can... hang out some other time."

"Thanks. See ya," I say, waving and smiling gratefully.

"See ya."

* * *

"Ty, please answer your phone," I beg the voicemail machine. "I know you're mad, but I... Please, I'm worried about you."

Two more calls, and Ty has yet to answer. Oh, Notch, what if he got hurt? What if he died? The Respawn Machine is off! No, no, I _cannot_ lose Ty!

Where would he have gone? I _assume_ he learned his lesson with the giant toaster, but maybe not? I guess I could check...

"Ty, please answer your freaking phone, please, please, are you hurt? Please call me, I can help, I swear! Please, Ty, please, call me back..."

Is it too stalkerish to try to track his phone?

He's not on (or in) the giant toaster. He's not in the underground club. He never spends any more time than he has to at his house. Where _is_ he?

He can't really be dead, can he?

"You may have noticed that all the minigames have been closed," Brice's voice blares over a nearby intercom. "This is because the Respawn Machine is off. Please wait to do anything stupid until we can get it back on. Thank you!"

 _Where is Ty?_

 **Tyler's POV**

"Sky, I-"

"Hello, Ty!" I chirp.

His voice turns to ice. "What did you do to Sky?"

"What? Nothing! I just switched our phones, is all." After making mine identical to his.

"Is he okay? Where is he?" Notch, they all care so much. What will they do if one of them dies? Don't they know it can happen in an instant?

"I wonder if a Minecraft ghost can speak with the living..."

"I haven't spoken to him since I left- _is he okay?"_ Ah, so my 'screw with Ty's contact information' stunt worked. Sky must have mistakenly called that old farmer guy's phone a million times by now.

"So, why'd'ja call?" I ask casually.

 _"I want to talk to Sky,"_ Ty hisses. I'll admit, this boy can be awfully scary when he wants to be.

"How about we meet up at the toaster in thirty minutes?" I ask. He starts to protest, but I cut him off. "Or, if you disagree, I can just... _get_ _rid_ of Sky instead." I can be scary, too.

"I... Okay. I'll be there. Bye."

 **Ty's POV**

"Or, if you disagree, I can just... _get rid_ of Sky instead." Alesa's eyes go wide, and I bite my lip in fear. No, no, let him live...

"I... Okay. I'll be there. Bye," I say shakily, and then I press "end call" and try to even my breathing as I sink down against the wall.

"I... I believe you now," Alesa breathes. "I'll admit, I didn't truthfully see anything wrong with Tyler at first, but... Wow, the power of speakerphone."

"Yeah," is all I can say.

"Ty, you can't go to that meeting - at least, not alone," she says firmly, and I throw up my hands.

"But who will go with me? No one believes me about Tyler, and - wait. You can help me! If we _both_ tell them what Tyler's doing, they'll _have_ to believe us!"

She shakes her head sadly. "Ty, I'm sorry, but if I suddenly speak up with the same stance as you, they'll either assume I'm going along with it because I'm still in love with you or they'll think I've brainwashed you or something. They don't trust me all that much - ironically, you trust me the most out of everyone."

"Ugh," I groan. "Alesa... I have to go."

She crosses her arms stubbornly. "I won't let you. I'd offer to go with you, but I doubt we'd come out of that alive without help from the others."

"I can't let him get hurt-"

The sound of the front door slamming open fills the air. "Alesa, have you seen Ty? I know this is probably the last place he'd ever hang out, but I've tried literally _everywhere_ else. Please, could you help me-"

Sky freezes in the doorway, and I tackle him to the ground with the most violent hug of the century.

"Ty!"

"Sky," I sigh into his hair, and, no, I'm not letting go. Don't even _try_ to make me.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean anything back there! You can hate Tyler if you want, and it'd just kinda be a nice plus if you'd avoid attacking him? But, like, it's okay! Please don't run away again," he begs, and my heart breaks in half.

"I didn't run away, I got kicked out," I grumble, hugging him more tightly.

"I know, I'm sorry, I- I- Please- Will you come back?"

"Yeah, of course I will, Sky. Don't worry, it's okay."

"B-But I thought it wouldn't be, I thought you'd died and wouldn't be okay at all, but you're not dead, you're fine, and it's okay now," he rambles, and then he buries his head in my chest and he's shaking and he's clenching and unclenching his fist around the fabric of my shirt and _how long did he look for me?_

"Right. I'll just..." Alesa gives me an awkward smile and backs out of the room while mouthing, "Tell him."

Tell him? Tell him _what?_ That I'm in love with him, or that _his_ love interest is trying to kill him?

Neither is an option.

"How 'bout we head off to the city center? We can hang out a little, de-stress you a bit," I say, stifling a sudden yawn. Augh, the tiredness is real.

"Thank you," Sky says, sounding small, and I tell myself a nap can wait. Sky cannot.

"Coffee or pizza?" I ask, and he sniffs, waits a few moments, and then replies.

"Ty, we aren't allowed in _any_ of the pizza places at this point. Angry Manager warned everyone about us."

I bite my lip, trying not to laugh. "Wanna play dress up?"

* * *

"Oh, geez, he's gonna recognize us. This was a bad idea."

"No, this was a great idea! Take your headphones off, though, he'll definitely recognize those."

"Okay - oh my dear Notch the _noise,"_ I gasp, slipping the headphones into my backpack. "How are _you_ not deaf?"

"Sheer willpower," he shouts, and I wince. He smiles not-so-apologetically.

"All right, you've gotta take off the amulet."

"What? No! It's part of the disguise."

"I still don't understand why you chose that costume."

"What's more concerning - the creepypasta part, or the dragon part?"

"The actual fire-breathing part," I say, cringing away from him when he spurts fire out of his costume's snout thing. Notch, this is weird.

"Hey, man, you took the Doctor Who outfit."

"You could've been the Ninth!"

"But I wanted to be _Eleven,"_ he whines, and I roll my eyes and adjust my fez.

"Hmph. Ready?"

"Yes, sir!" Sky giggles, snapping out of his funk, and I roll my eyes again but smile anyways as I lead him inside.

"We should probably eat something before you get us kicked out," I say as we sit down, and he pretends to be horribly offended.

" _Me!?"_

"Yes, you," I snort. "You just set that napkin on fire."

"I-" He spots the burning napkin, and his eyes nearly bug out of his head before I put out the flames. He sighs in relief and sits back. "Maybe, with my help, they'll actually be able to cook their food at a reasonable speed."

My laughter turns into a cough half-way through. "C-Crap, I laughed too hard. Why was that so funny?"

He giggles and shrugs, and then we sit back and wait patiently for our meal.

Five minutes later, he is about to sing _the song._

"Oh, geez, not-" I freeze. "Sky. Oh my Notch, _Sky."_

"What?" he asks, visibly concerned.

"I- I know why it always takes so long for our food to come."

"Oh?" he asks, pulling off his fiery dragon-chainsaw-killer mask off and rubbing at his arm.

"It's - It's a _buffet,_ Sky. We have to serve our _selves."_

Sky falls out of his chair.

"All this time, and we-" He groans loudly. "I hate my life. SCREW YOU, WORLD." He huffs as he plops back down in his seat, and I giggle.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you not to yell," says a soft-spoken waitress, and Sky and I grin.

"Hmm. May we speak to your manager?" I ask in a sing-songy voice.

"Um, I _am_ the manager. Or, uh, assistant manager, which is as good as we've got right now."

Sky frowns. "Where's Angry Manager?"

The waitress' eyes widen at the nickname, but she answers anyways. "He got the disease."

"He-" Our eyes go wide. "Oh. Okay. Uh, thanks, sorry, we'll just... Sorry for the trouble," he says, handing her a bar of budder. "Bye!"

"I think you were right," he says after he pulls me out of the building. "The people are going to die without Seto to heal them." He looks so blank, so defeated, so...

"No, it'll be okay, just like you said!" I insist, forcing a smile as I take off my fez and set it gently on his head. "We've still got the rest of the Team - we'll figure out a way to fix this."

"Ty," he says, sounding pained. I tilt my head, and then he says, "My arm has been tingling since you said the thing about the buffet."

"W-What?"

"Ty, I've got the disease."


	19. Bittersweet

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 17: Bittersweet**

 **Tyler's POV**

 **3:2**

 **8:1**

 **11:1**

For Dawn.

…

For Dawn?

…

Is it worth it?

I can't lose Jason again...

Sky really _isn't_ a bad person, he just did what he had to do...

And I have no right to barge in and take Sky from Ty.

On the other hand, Sky had no right to kill Dawn – there were other ways to solve the problem.

Sky deserves this.

Alesa was so close to victory, too – and then feelings happened. Feelings for Ty and feelings for the Team and _feelings never result in anything good._ You trust someone and then they let you down, and you love someone and then they break your heart, and you realize how many people would miss someone and then you forget how many someones you're already missing.

Now. I have to do it now.

I plunge the sword through Sky's heart, and he cries out in pain with his final moments.

Revenge is bittersweet.


	20. Everybody Loves a Glowing Green Cake

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 18: Because Everybody Loves a Good Ol' Glowing Green Cake**

 **Ty's POV**

"Hey, maybe it's something else entirely!"

"Walk faster."

"It could be an after effect of the eternal pain, maybe the coding thing is still wearing off!"

"Go faster."

"I usually have a giant pig to travel on."

"You were _dying_ on that pig!"

"So were you!"

"Shut up and enter the lab," I order, glaring at him until he complies.

"We don't even have a cure!"

"Exactly," I reply, gritting my teeth, "so you need to rest in order to slow the process as much as possible while we figure this out."

He grumbles and stomps over to one of the spare hospital beds by Seto. "Can't I at least have my own bed?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Atmosphere."

"Aw, come on, my normal bed is not going to ruin the atmosphere!"

I roll my eyes, and an unexpected cough hides my laugh. Skills.

The sound of the door opening cuts our conversation short. "Where's- oh, Ty! You're back."

I huff at Brice's obvious hesitation. "Calm down and help me with Sky."

"What? What's wrong with Sky?"

"He's got the disease."

"We _think_ I've got the disease," Sky interrupts.

"You've got _what!?"_ a terrifyingly familiar voice exclaims as its owner runs into the room.

"Get out," I shout at Tyler. "I'm not dealing with you right now." His eyes widen, and he scurries out of the room. Good.

"Be kind!" Sky shrieks, and I put my headphones back on. "Rude."

"'No regrets,' as a great man once said."

"Actually, I'm currently still a dragon-chainsaw-killer."

"Right, go change back while Brice and I try to fix this."

Sky nods and exits the room, and Brice turns to me. "Ty, no, we _can't_ fix this. Seto is the only one with even the smallest chance-"

"No. We're going to find the cure, okay?"

"But, Ty-"

I blink back tears. Notch, I'm too tired for this. "We're _finding_ the cure."

"Ty, I'm just as desperate as you are!" Brice tells me, voice dropping to a pained whisper. "But that doesn't make finding the cure any less difficult."

"Difficult is possible."

"I... I don't think it is." He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. "At this point, all we can do is feed them useless Notch apples and pray for a miracle."

"N-No- No, I-" My expression switches to a snarl, not at Brice or at Sky, but at myself for not being able to do more.

 _I can do more._

"Bye, Brice!"

* * *

The city is quieter than usual. A fourth of the citizens are sick. Luckily, few have died, though many are unconscious already.

"Hello, Ma'am," I greet a lady walking down the street. She looks familiar...

"PREPARE YOUR FACE FOR MY AXE!" she shouts, so I run away to ask someone else.

"Good evening, sir," I pant despite only having run around a corner. I need sleep.

"Indeeed," the guy drawls, and, oh, geez, here we go.

"Do you have any theories as to why people are falling sick?" Ooh, I sound smart.

"Indubitably!" Ah, he's a Merome fan.

"Care to share?"

"I'd share to care, but I don't care to share!"

"...What?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to say that. Anyways, yeah, I think it's the cake, to be honest," the man replies.

"The cake...?"

He narrows his eyes. "You'll have to tell me the secret code if you want more information."

I sigh. "Um, #Meromeisreal?"

"It is!?"

"No, it's not. Is that the code?"

"Yes." He turns around and walks away. Wait, what?

"Woah, what the crap?" I ask, running to catch up.

"You didn't tell me the _double_ secret code." He turns his nose up and runs away, spreading his jacket out behind him like a cape. Ooookay, then.

Shrugging to no one, I pull out my phone and dial Ian's number. "Hey, do you know anything about some special cake in the city?" I ask.

"You mean the one in the giant oven?"

"Wha-" The gigantic oven half-way across the city catches my eye. "Oh. I, uh." I cough. "Bye."

Giant oven. Giant cake. Made by Ian with Crazy Alesa's help.

 _Why didn't we look there sooner?_

* * *

 _IT GLOWS GREEN OH NOTCH WHY WOULD ANYONE THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO EAT IT!?_

* * *

"Alesa!" I call, barging into her house.

"Geez, calm down-"

"Sky is sick. Tell me everything you know about the cake."

"The cake – oh my Notch, the _cake!_ I forgot it even existed!" she says, eyes slowly widening. "I- Oh my Notch. Are you saying that the cake is what started the-" I nod. "Oh. Oh Notch. Oh, my Notch. All right, sit down."

So I do.

"The ingredient I put into the cake was a mix between Dawn's eternal pain crap and my own little thing, which I created with the squids' help. I... I didn't think I'd need the cure. Really, the only chance you have of finding the cure is asking the squids for it," she explains. "Also, I would suggest closing off the giant oven, though the disease seems to be spreading through the air now anyways."

"Okay... Okay. Thank you. I... Thank you, Alesa. Bye."

"Woah, hold your horses, Mr. Hero. You are _not_ going to the Squid Base _alone_ while the Respawn Machine is _off,"_ she growls, holding onto my arm. "You're an idiot."

"Nah, that's Sky's job, being an idiot," I laugh, but it turns into a cough again half-way through. I _really_ ought to drink something. "And it's fine; I'll get the Team to come with me."

"Ty," she says in a warning tone.

"It'll be fine," I assure her. "Thanks again!"

* * *

"It's the cake, that's what started it!" I yell, darting into the lab. "I- wow, no."

Within two seconds, I've got Tyler on the floor beneath me, and the black potion that _was_ in _his_ hand is _now_ in _mine_ and is suspended just above his head.

"Ty!" Sky shouts, shocked for the second time today, and I glance up at him, at his expression, which manages to be horrified, afraid, and forgiving all at once.

"Sky, he-" Out it comes. "He was trying to kill you," I blurt, and Tyler raises his eyebrows and pinches my arm. "No, stop it!" I yell at him before switching my attention back to Sky. "He's been planning to kill you since the day he met you and please, Sky, please don't let him, you can't let him, _I_ can't let him, Sky, _please!_ Be _lieve_ me!"

Sky bites his lip. His eyes are worried. He looks conflicted.

"Sky, p-please, get this guy off of me!" Tyler gasps out. "H-He keeps attacking me, and he told me during the interview that he was going to kill me! I'm _scared,_ Sky!"

Sky doesn't know _who_ to believe.

Ouch.

"How 'bout we all just back away from each other?" Jason, who must have just entered the room, suggests in a forcibly calm manner.

"I- But he's a total psychopath!" I protest, except I can't manage to kill him. I don't _want_ to kill him. But I _do_ want to stop him...

"Slowly step away, and we'll talk it out, yeah?" Ian asks.

"Think rationally," says Annie.

"H-He was trying to hurt Sky!" I repeat helplessly.

"Put the potion down, Ty," Brice advises gently.

In a bit of a daze, I stand up and hand the potion to Brice. "Not a single one of you believes me, huh?" I ask slowly.

No one answers.

"Okay," I breathe. "Okay, fine. Okay. I didn't want to have the support and trust of my closest friends, anyways." Sky opens his mouth, but closes it again after a few seconds. I swallow hard, ignoring another rising cough. "Okay. I'm going. _Don't_ leave Tyler alone with Sky, _please."_

And then I leave.

 _I can do this on my own._


	21. It Stings

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 19: It Stings**

 **Sky's POV**

 **1:19**

 **2:6**

 **3:39**

"It stings," says the monster girl while something slimy drips from the end of her tentacle. If she were any scarier, I'd have passed out upon meeting her.

"Do you want to feel the sting?" she asks, faking innocence as she moves toward Ty. "It only hurts a little bit. It only tingles a tad."

"D-Don't," Ty begs, scrambling backwards, reaching around on the ground for a weapon that is no longer there. I glance at his sword, thrown all the way across the room, and bite my lip. Can I get there first, before the monster girl either goes after it as well or decides to murder Ty?

"Crap-"

My gaze snaps back to Ty as he stares in fear up at the monster girl. "No!" I shout, but it's too late, the monster girl shoots one of her tentacles forward and makes contact with Ty's chest. He cries out in pain, trembling in his place. "Ty-"

"Do you like the sting of it?" the monster girl asks. "I find I'm growing quite fond of the feeling, actually."

"P-Please- S-Stop-" Ty pleads, letting out a single sob. I tear my eyes away and start inching towards Ty's sword.

"What was that? You'd like me to bump it up? Sure thing, Ty!"

"N-No-!" he gasps out, hands clenching into fists.

I grasp the sword and spin around, bringing the sword down right into the monster girl's back. With a pained cry that isn't nearly as pained as Ty's from earlier, she falls, slowly, to the ground. Her tentacle retracts, and she fades into dust with a dull _poof._

"Are you okay?" I ask quietly, crouching in front of Ty.

My breath hitches in the worst kind of way when I see the subtle shake of his head. "I-I'm sorry, Sky," he breathes, swallowing hard afterward. He lays his head in my lap, and my breathing gets heavier.

"What? No, no, what? You can't die, we- that girl is dead! She's gone! You have to be okay now, that's how it works, we _won!"_ I insist. He smiles apologetically. "Don't say sorry! Don't _look_ sorry! Don't _think_ sorry! You didn't do anything _wrong,_ Ty."

"I'm sorry I can't stay," he explains.

"But, T-Ty, I- I-" He doesn't respond – not at all. Doesn't move. Doesn't shift. Doesn't speak. "...Ty?

"I'll miss you..."


	22. Ding Ding Ding!

_GUSY AUGH THIS CHAPTER IS SO BORING BUT LIKE_

 _OHHHH_

 _I HAVE WRITETN SO MUCH IN ADVANCE AND I JUST_

 _IM A TAD OVERLY PROUD OF IT XD_

 _BUT LIKE I TRIED WRITING A HORROR CHAPTER AND JUST *throws hands up* "TRIED" IS THE KEY WORD THERE XD_

 _ALSO MY FRIEND WROTE IN A LITTLE INTRO TO THIS CHAPTER ABOUT FLOWEY_

 _CALLING EVERYONE AN IDIOT_

 _AS ALWAYS XD_

 _BUT I LEFT THAT OUT, YOURE WELCOME XD_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 20: Ding, Ding, Ding, We Have a Winner!**

 **Ty's POV**

"Ty, hey, Ty. We'll give you the cure. But you have to capture Sky for us."

"That seems just a tad counterproductive," I reply, rolling my eyes.

"No. Not really. Capture Sky, and the entire rest of the city gets cured."

"I don't think it's worth it."

"Well. If you _don't_ agree, Sky dies anyway."

"Point, but if _you_ have Sky, Sky's not safe at all."

"Does it matter? Ty. Think. You've tried so hard to protect that boy. But what has it gotten you? You've been betrayed, Ty. By your best friends. They trust a near-stranger more than they trust you. And they've known you for years!"

"Well..." I swallow. "Yeah, but..."

"Your word means nothing to them."

"Maybe so, but..."

"Remember how they kicked you out of the lab?"

"How do you even..."

"They'd kick you of the city if they could."

"W-Why can't they?"

"Sky. Sky likes playing with your emotions. Is it as fun for you as it is for him?"

"N-No. I- No, he... Please stop..."

"He hates you, you know."

"No, he doesn't."

"He loves Tyler."

"N-No, he- Well..."

"Tyler is better than you."

"He wants to _kill_ Sky!"

"And that's something _you_ have already accomplished. Maybe you _are_ better, in some ways."

"I didn't _want_ to kill Sky!" I choke out. "Please, won't _someone_ believe me?"

"We will believe you."

"I-"

"We will trust you."

"It doesn't-"

"All you have to do is _help us capture Sky."_

"But-"

"Ty. You've protected him long enough." The squid looks me up and down. "Don't you think it's high time you start protecting yourself?"

I swallow hard. I blink fast. I tell myself Sky is worth it. Sky cares about me.

Right?

A series of coughs wracks my body.

"I'll do it," I say quietly. "But I'll still need the cure – not for Sky, but for myself."

 **Sky's POV**

"'Dawn and Alesa – were the first – but not the – last. Watch out – for the pains – of having power. – Not everyone is – really your friend.' And then it starts over."

I win! Ding ding, points for me, I solved it! I think. Now what does it _mean?_

Doesn't matter, my actual dream is a bit more pressing. Is this one of the prophetic ones? Is Ty okay? Where _is_ Ty? Is he already at the squid base?

Notch, I told him I'd do anything if he stayed my best friend, if he stayed alive, and... I didn't do anything _at all._ I just... _stood_ there. And, geez, he looked so _crushed,_ so disappointed and _broken_ and just- _let down._

I let him down.

Big time.

I'm sure he has a _reason_ for attacking Tyler. Maybe Tyler killed me in one of Ty's dreams, so Ty freaked out and was trying to protect me or something. Augh, and we basically _banished_ him from the lab until further notice. We're terrible friends, we should have at least _tried_ to understand! Ty wouldn't just attack someone for no reason.

But does the rest of the Team still believe that?

Screw it, I'm going alone. Ty needs me, and- and it's about time I start actually being there for him.

Notch, Ty, I'm sorry.

I _will_ save you.

Sighing in regret, I print out my dream and shut down Seto's weird dream machine. How much time do I have? I don't know when the dream takes place, but I don't want that to happen to Ty. He was gone all day yesterday...

Why was he even at the squids base in my nightmare? Was he captured? Did he go willingly? Why, _why?_

It's a little past midnight now. I'd wait or wake up the others, but I don't have time and I'm really afraid they won't want to help me – won't want to help Ty.

So I will help Ty _now,_ on my own.

 **Jason's POV**

"I'd _love_ to hang out longer, seriously," Tyler replies, and my heart sinks in advance. "But I have plans with Sky."

Right. Right, right, _Sky,_ I almost forgot.

I can _not_ fall in love with Tyler.

"All right, that's fine!" I say with my best fake cheerfulness. Tyler frowns.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Jason," he says quietly as though I have the right to be mad. I don't. It's not like we had plans beforehand or anything. I'm not his problem.

"Yeah, no, it's fine! Totally fine, Tyler." I force a smile. "Have fun with Sky."

"Jason, I'm not-" He bites his lip. "Sky and I aren't- He's not really my-" Tyler pauses, sighs, smiles weakly. "Thanks, Jason. Sorry, again. I... missed you."

"I missed you, too," I whisper, and then I cough and force my voice back to normal. "You're staying now, right? Not moving away again."

"Yeah, I'm not going to-" He frowns. "I don't think so."

"See you," I say, because at this rate, he's going to be _past_ late. I don't wanna be the downfall of whatever he's got going with Sky. The facts that I'm both the biggest Skylox shipper ever as well as in love with Tyler – no, I'm not – need to be kept quiet.

"See you," he echoes hollowly, and I sigh as I turn away.

 **Tyler's POV**

I'm going to lose Jason again.

No, augh, I can't! Jason is- but I can't _tell_ him, if I tell him, I'll be arrested in a heartbeat. Jason is Sky's best friend. The knowledge that I am totally playing Sky for a fool would not rest well on Jason's ears.

"Ready, Sky?" I call as I burst into the lab, because Sky is a rebel who wants to do dangerous things like skydiving even though the Respawn Mechanism is off and Ty basically _demanded_ that he be kept safe, in bed, and out of my presence.

Where _is_ Ty, anyways? Don't get me wrong, I love not getting set back by him every five seconds, but I'm kind of a little concerned, if we're being honest.

"Sky?" I call again, peeking into one of the rooms. Hmph, he's not here. Where did he go? He said he'd be here. Heck, I might as well have stayed with Jason.

I pull out my phone and dial Sky's number only to be faced with his weird squid voicemail. Next, I call Jason, smiling when he answers. "Uh, hey, so, have you seen Sky?"

"Um, no, sorry. Have... Are you okay?" Jason asks. "What's wrong?" Notch, he's so sweet.

"Ah, I'm fine, but... Have you seen _Ty?"_

"I- No, actually, I haven't seen him since the whole lab incident. Sorry about that, by the way."

"Eh, not your fault." Mine, but let's not talk about that.

"Hmph. So, what _about_ Ty?"

"Where is he?"

"Uh- I don't know. Oh, crap. Crap, I don't _know._ I hope he's okay, oh, Notch-"

"Shh, calm down. Sky's on it, I think."

"Sky's – what? Where are they?"

"Hey, it's just a guess. I mean, Ty's been gone for a day or two, and I haven't seen Sky all day. Those two are practically attached at the hip – I assume that Sky went looking for Ty." Ugh, this makes my life so much harder. If Sky _does_ find Ty, who _knows_ how much damage Ty could do. A couple of well-chosen, out-with-it words from Ty, and Sky no longer trusts me. He's already got his suspicions, but I'm still thanking Notch that Ty's fit a day or two ago didn't send me straight to the city jail.

"Oh, no, what if one of them gets hurt?" Jason panics, and I shake my head despite realizing he can't see me.

"Hey, no, they'll be fine." Unfortunately. "Shh, it's okay, Jason."

"Oh, geez, it's not okay, my best friends are going to die-"

"Shush, they might not even be in danger. They could be having a nice chat in a meadow, or-"

"Are you _kidding?_ A _nice chat?_ In a _meadow?_ This is _Sky and Ty_ we're talking about! At the very least, something will blow up!"

Hmm. Point. "Don't worry, they'll be okay."

"You don't _know_ that," Jason says, voice cracking slightly. "They've both come so close to dying before, I just... Augh."

"I know, I know." I know about the Dawn incident – _clearly_ I know about that, about how close she was, and yet how far... About how _heartlessly_ Sky drove the sword through her heart, about... about...

Why'd he have to kill her?

I _can_ finish Sky, I _will._ No more fooling around, no more half-hearted attempts.

"Uh... Tyler?"

Jason! Right. "Sorry, I, uh, zoned out, sorry. Why don't you call a few friends, and I'll get Annie and Brice to help us out? We'll go look for Sky and Ty. Sound good?" I ask. "We'll find them."

"Yeah, I guess... Thank you, Tyler."

"No problem. Bye, Jason."

"Bye."


	23. Have Some Self-Control

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 21: Have Some Self-Control and Control Yourself**

 **Sky's POV**

 **4:26**

 **5:22**

 **7:13**

The door creaks open.

"I come bearing food, Prisoner," Ty announces in a monotone as he enters the room. I try my hardest to ignore him as he pushes a button and then jumps onto the pedestal so it can carry him up to where I am. "Hmph. You're alive, right?"

I huff.

He laughs as the pedestal rises and he walks down a path to my hanging cage. "Bet you wish you weren't." I glare at him. But before I can open my mouth to respond, his voice drops to a whisper, and he keeps talking. _"They told me not to kill you. You should thank them."_

My mouth goes dry, and I quickly forget what I was going to say. Was it important? It couldn't have been, not when compared to this. Geez, I can't- can't take all of this in at once – I _trusted_ Ty, I... I _care_ about him, and yet he has no trouble forgetting everything I thought we had.

"Ty," I say, and I mean for it to sound confident and intimidating, but instead it comes out strangled and sad.

"Sky?" he responds, pulling something out of his backpack. It glints in the dim light as he tightens his grip on it. "My self-control only stretches so far."


	24. The Words I Didn't Say

_Agh, sorry for missing a week and then being a day late, guys. I suck. XD Take these two chapters and try to en-juh-hoy them anyway? :)_

 _Happy late new years, by the way!_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 22: The Words I Didn't Say**

 **Jason's POV**

"Okay, we'll have a group on the southern side of the city, a group by the Northern Gates, and a group looking outside the city. Annie and Brice, you stay at the lab with Seto, okay? If you can track Sky or Ty somehow, do it." I say, glancing around at all of them. "Got it?"

"Yup!" Mitch nods, grabbing the bacca's hand and darting towards the Northern Gates. Quentin huffs and runs after them with Ian in tow.

"Sure thing," Seth agrees, prepared to head outside the city with Bashur and Bodil.

"It'll work out," Tyler promises me, smiling softly and taking my hand in his. Oh. Oh, okay. All right.

"Yeah," I breathe, trying to focus on the fact that my best friends are probably in danger. "Okay, go! Unless you've already gone. Thanks a lot, Merome."

Bashur and Bodil laugh and run after Seth as he flies away, Brice and Annie turn back to go to the lab, and Tyler and I start toward the Southern Gates.

 _We will find them._

 **Sky's POV**

Here. Here, I'm here, is it too late? How will I know if it's too late? Where are all the squids, aren't they supposed to be here?

"Ty?" I call, throwing open the doors to the old traitor cell replicates. Nothing. No one. Where is Ty? Maybe he's almost escaped, maybe he's in the weapon room.

I peek my head in quickly (and contemplate grabbing more equipment, but I think I'm good, especially since there don't seem to be any squids around), but Ty is no where to be seen. Uh, let's see, I don't know any of these other hallways very well... Whelp, I guess I'm picking a random one and going with it.

"Ty, Ty, _please_ be okay," I mutter, running through the halls of the squid base. "I'm sorry..."

"I'm not," replies a far-too-familiar voice, and I spin around to see Ty standing in the middle of the same room that the Team found me in last time we were here, when Ian thought I smelled like budder. Ah, good times...

"Ty, you're okay!" I shout, sprinting in to hug him. Before I can reach him, though, a cage falls down on top of me. Then a sheet of metal slides mechanically across the bottom, and I yelp as it hits my feet. "Wha-" The cage lifts off the ground, and I look up to see a metal arm controlling my cage. Is that a- oh, it's attached to the ceiling.

And, now I'm in a cage that's suspended in the air. Brilliant. "Uh, Ty?" I chuckle. "Feel like helping me out?"

"Hmm. No, thank you."

"Thanks- wait, what?"

"What's the point of letting you go immediately after capturing you?"

"I- What?" Please don't mean what I think you mean.

"I'm with the squids, Sky." Oh, I feel sick. "If you weren't so dense, you'd have known it by now."

"But you're- Ty, I-"

"Lights off. We'll deal with him tomorrow." Ty waves a hand, and the lights start flickering off, one by one. He turns to walk away, out of the room.

No, no, this can't be, what? He's been with the squids before, but that was for me, that was to _protect_ me, to protect the Team! This has to be the same, right? He must be doing this for us. He _must_ be. Unless... Unless... Unless, all this time, he's hated Tyler because _Tyler knows his secret,_ he must have figured it out during their interview, and so Tyler tried to tell me but Ty threatened him and _no,_ no, _no,_ Ty can't genuinely be against me, that's not _possible._

"Ty, wait!" I call desperately, gripping the bars of my cage. "Please, Ty, you're- you're my _friend!"_

He pauses, but doesn't look back. "Ah, friendzoned yet again. No relief, huh?"

And then he leaves.

* * *

"I don't know," says Ty, "whether he'd prefer electrocution or drowning. Possibly both. Of course, you won't want to kill him, not yet."

My eyes fly open, and I pull myself to my feet. "Ty?" I ask timidly as he pulls a lever that brings my cage back down to the ground. What's he talking about?

"Oh, he's awake! What _do_ you prefer, Sky? An excessive amount of energy, or an excessive amount of water?" Oh my Notch, no.

"W-What for?" I stammer, not able to help the way I back up against the other side of my cage when Ty walks up to the bars.

"Why, for torture, of course!" He says, smirking and then throwing in a wink. Oh, oh, wow, no, please tell me this is just one of those crap dreams.

"T-Torture?" I ask, hating myself for my continued stutter. It's Ty, dang it, I can stand up to him!

Except it's _not_ Ty. Not the Ty I know, not the Ty I fell in love with. Not the Ty I broke all those years ago.

Maybe this is my fault...

"You heard it right," Ty confirms, and I'm confused until I remember what I said last. "Although," he continues, turning back to face the five squids that entered the room after him, "maybe we should give Sky some time to adjust to his new home before we pile this onto him. And didn't you want to get a bed for him to sleep in? I'll get that ready. Meanwhile, you all owe me a little something, don't you?"

The squids consider all of his suggestions for a moment, and then they nod enthusiastically and run out of the room. Ty covers his mouth with his elbow while he coughs. Oh my Notch, is he okay?

Wait, no. I shouldn't be concerned about him at this point.

He takes a bed out of his inventory without stopping to craft it – he must have already had it made for some reason. Then he walks over to my cage and hands it through the bars to me. With a quick glance into the top right corner of the room (which I don't bother to follow up, seeing as I shouldn't care what interests him, anyway), he hisses the words, "I wouldn't give in to sleep, if I were you." Was that a threat? Hmph. I won't be sleeping anyways, considering that will set my spawnpoint here in the friggin' squid base-

 _The Respawn Machine is off._

Frick, frick, no! The stakes just rose, like, two skyscrapers' worth.

I can't afford to trust him – I need to escape and get back to the city so I can help them find a cure. We will deal with Ty and his crap later.

"Later, loser," Ty says in true white girl fashion before laughing to himself, raising my cage back up, and walking out of the room.

* * *

The door creaks open.

"I come bearing food, Prisoner," Ty announces in a monotone as he enters the room. I try my hardest to ignore him as he pushes a button and then jumps onto the pedestal so it can carry him up to where I am. "Hmph. You're alive, right?"

I huff.

He laughs as the pedestal rises and he walks down a path to my hanging cage. "Bet you wish you weren't." I glare at him. But before I can open my mouth to respond, his voice drops to a whisper, and he keeps talking. "Take this paperclip and pick the lock, it's right there. I'll stand in front of it so they can't see." What?

"No way, don't touch me," I protest loudly as he presses the tray towards me.

"Hush," he hisses, nudging the tray toward me again. "The paper clip is by the fork. Take the water bottle, too, it's got the cure in it."

"The cure?" I ask, eyes widening. "Puh- _lease."_

"Notch, shut _up_ , or they'll hear. And stop being so sarcastic, I'm not lying. By the way, we need to go _now_ , before they catch on, so if you could just _pick the lock-"_

"But the city needs the cure, too!"

"You think I _care?_ Your _life_ is in danger, and I can't lose you again!" His voice breaks.

At first, his words warm my heart. But then doubt slips in... "So what is it, _really_? Poison?"

"Everything all right, Ty?" asks a mutant squid on the floor.

"Yes, fine," he replies before turning back to me. "You freaking idiot. It's the _cure,_ Sky, trust me."

"I can't."

He sucks in a breath. "Oh. I... oh. Okay, um... I guess that makes sense, really. Well, it is. The cure, I mean." Oh, geez. Why do I feel so bad? "Right. Seriously time to go, now," he says as a few more squids enter the room. Ty glances down at them worriedly. "Fine, I'll do it. Doesn't matter, they've already realized what I'm doing."

"STOP!" one of the squids yells, pushing the button to bring one of the pedestals back down. Hold on, I'm confused...

"Augh," Ty mutters, messing with the paperclip. His fingers move clumsily and slowly, like he doesn't have complete control of them. "Come on..."

"So... What?"

"I'm on your team, Sky. As always." He flashes me a forced smile. Ha, right. Fake, much?

"You're ridiculous."

"Aw, you love me," he giggles, finally picking the lock.

"Actually? I kind of hate you."

Ty's entire face drops, and I immediately regret my words. "Ah. Okay. Well, uh... Oh, look at that, the squids have arrived. Take the cure, run to the city, have Brice validate it and replicate it. If you start feeling dizzy on your way there, then, for Jeb's sake, _take the cure,_ at least some of it." Oh my Notch, he's telling the truth, he's always been telling the truth. Why didn't I believe him? He's on my team, and he's right, he's _always_ been on my team. And I've just told him I hate him-

I open my mouth to apologize, to beg his forgiveness, to tell him that, no, I don't hate him, how could I? And, yeah, I _do_ trust him, I always have! But nothing comes out.

"Okay." He swallows. "All right, then. You'll need to be going now." He grabs my wrist – why not my hand? - and leads me to a square of wall by one of the pedestals. Who built these pathways? Ty pushes on the wall and a couple of blocks pop out – a secret door. "Go on. I'll hold them off," he says, drawing his sword and gently nudging me toward the ramp leading outside and away from the secret door.

What? No!

I open my mouth again. Nothing happens. What is my _problem?_ Speak, Sky!

Ty smiles sadly. "It's okay, Sky. I get it. But you need to go – _now."_ The squids are hurrying closer; Ty turns to stab one that has gotten a little bit _too_ close. "Go!"

I'm frozen, unable to move, unable to say a single word. Ty glares at me. "Go! Notch, are you deaf? Go, you moron!"

"I-"

"You _are_ deaf," he grumbles, pushing another squid off the platform. "Look, I'm sorry I can't go with you. I'm actually pretty confident in your ability to make it home alive, though – just as long as I stay behind to buy you some time. And, I mean, it's not like it's much of a loss on your end if I die. Still, um..." He swallows hard. "I still love you. I hate that I love you, but that doesn't change anything, does it?"

My eyes widen, and he snorts. "It was obvious, according to the city's 'Skylox Fanclub.'"

"Ty-"

"Die, Sky!" shouts a murderous-looking squid, and Ty's eyes go wide.

"Oh, heck, no," he breathes, slicing the squid's tentacles off and shoving me out the door and down the ramp a few blocks. I wince. "Go, you idiot!" He drops the cure into my backpack, and I turn around just in time to see the squids attack him as he slams shut the secret door.

"Ty," I whisper, and here come the words I didn't say. "Ty! Ty, no, please, I don't hate you! I love you, too, I never stopped loving you! Ty, please, come with me! We can get back home _together!_ Please, Ty, please, _the Respawn Machine is off!"_ I sob, breaking down and desperately banging on the door. "Please, Ty, don't- don't- I _need_ you, I can't lose you! I'm _sorry_ , Ty, I _do_ trust you! _Ty!"_ I push and pull on and ram my shoulder into the door. It moves just the tiniest bit...

And then metal bars extend from the roof and cover the whole friggin' building, and I huff as the metal hits my hand. "Ty, no! Come out, Ty, come with me, let me _in!"_

I can hear the very faint clashing of swords through the wall, the sounds of the squids bearing down on my best friend, my so-much-more-than-a-best-friend.

He's doing this for me.

He's doing this, staying here, risking his life, so I'll be able to get back to the city safely. He might _die._

But it will not be in vain.

 **Ty's POV**

 _Running,_

 _Running,_

 _Running,_

 _Explosion._


	25. Look at the Bright Side

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 23: Look at the Bright Side**

 **Sky's POV**

 **2:20**

 **16:7**

 **21:8**

"No, we- we _have_ to find him!" Alesa shouts, matching my feelings exactly. Hmm. Does she still have lovey-dovey feelings for him? She'd better not. I thought she was over that.

"What if we _can't?"_ I ask, voice breaking near the end of the sentence. I'm not... I don't... "The last words I said to him were 'I hate you,'" I breathe. I blink, and a tear rolls down my cheek.

Notch dang it.

"Sky," Alesa calls distractedly over her shoulder, and I frown, wipe my eyes with my glove, and walk towards her.

"What?"

"I- oh. oh, Notch," she chokes, backing away. I run up to take her spot.

"What is it? Do-" I freeze.

"What is it, guys?" Seto asks, teleporting over. His eyes go wide, and he glides forward.

"Did you guys find him?" Annie asks, and then she sees. Slowly, she blows out a breath of air, and then she moves to join Seto by the body.

"What's wrong?" asks Jerome, and then he gets here and calls softly, "Mitch..."

"What is it- oh."

Eyes closed, lips parted slightly. Face relaxed, as though only asleep.

A rip in his normally white v-neck.

It's red now.

Come on, Sky, look at the bright side.

At least I didn't have to watch.

"Notch _dang_ it," Seto growls, moving around my friend's body in a blur.

"Oh, _Notch,_ " Alesa repeats from behind me.

I can't move. My eyes burn. Has it always been this hard to breathe?

"Frickin- _no_ ," Seto mutters.

"Sky?" Annie asks gently, reaching a hand out toward me.

 _"Ty!"_ I cry out, my voice muffled by my own hand over my mouth and distorted by the sobs that rack my body.

Seto glances up at me, curses, and then motions for me to sit by him. "Look, Sky, it's- it's not- it isn't your fault, okay?"

"I-I- He- How could it be anything _but_ my fault?" I sob as I drop down next to him.

"It's not- It was _his_ choice, all right? To save you."

"Y-Yes, but- we could've gotten out _together_ , but I just _had_ to freak out on him and hold us back-" I sniff. "And it's my fault. He's dead and it's because of _me."_


	26. Past Tense

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 24: Past Tense**

 **Sky's POV**

"Sky!" Brice yells excitedly.

"Replicate it," I pant, having run all the way here. "It's the cure."

"The cure to...?" Brice pauses, his eyes widen. " _The_ cure!?"

I nod, still breathing heavily. "R-Replicate it. Now. Need enough for the whole city."

"What- Where did you get this? _How_ did you get this?"

"Doesn't matter. _Replicate_ it."

"How do you know it's really the cure?"

"I have it on good authority that this will save the city. Now freaking _replicate it."_

Brice jumps a little at my harsh tone, and I sigh. "Come on. Don't you wanna help Seto?"

His eyes light up for a moment, but then he frowns. I lean against the wall. "I- I don't know how," he says quietly.

"J-Just- _concentrate,_ or something."

Brice calmly closes his eyes, but I can sense his growing panic. "I don't- Is there, is there a spell?"

"I dunno, what's the Latin word for 'replicate?'"

"Latin..?"

"Yeah. Seto isn't actually smart enough to make up a whole new magical language – he just uses Latin."

"Oh. I, um, I don't know Latin."

"We're doomed," I moan, sliding down the wall.

"Wait..." Brice bites his lip in excitement. "Maybe I can mix the cure with the jumbo potion!"

"The jumbo potion doesn't always work," I remind him.

"It's worth a try," he replies desperately.

"What if it jumboifies the people when they take it?" He gives me a hopeless look. "Fine, we'll try it. Be quick, Brice."

He nods excitedly and runs off to find the potion, and I'd like to follow him, but I can't. The eternal pain disease is finally starting to take its toll on me, and I find myself unable to move more than the slightest bit. "I got it, Sky, give me the cure!"

I force a nod. "Here. Make sure you put some of the jumbo potion on the bottle, as well, or else the cure will overflow."

He drips some of the jumbo potion on the bottle and then dumps the rest into the cure. The bottle grows and hits the ceiling, and we sigh in relief.

It worked.

"Cure Seto first," I instruct. "We'll need him if we run out of the cure – it can't be good to keep diluting it with more jumbo potions."

"Sure thing," Brice replies, relief showing even more clearly on his face. Well, yeah, of course he's super relieved to see Seto alive and healthy – not only are they best friends, they're also dating. They, uh, they just don't know it yet. "Here, I'll help you into their room."

"You are a _dev,_ Brice."

"Ha, no problem. You've just saved the lives of everyone in the city."

"And traded the most important life in the process," I mutter. He doesn't hear. I don't repeat myself.

"How much do you think I should give them?" Brice asks, tugging the cure bottle behind us as we go.

"'Bout a cup," I guess, and then I pass out.

* * *

"Sky?"

I groan as I sit up, eyes blinking rapidly. "Wha-?"

"Good, you've awoken. There was a chance that you wouldn't because of your history with the eternal pain."

"Seto!" I shout as the realization hits. "Seto, _Ty!"_

"No, Ty isn't here, I- Hmm. Where _is_ Ty?"

"Dead!" I yell, jumping out of the bed I was on. "Or dying! Either way, I'm going back to find him."

"Woah, what?" Seto asks. "You were _just_ cured, I don't think-"

"He could be _dead,_ Seto," I choke out. "And it's _my_ fault. I will _not_ leave him, dead or alive, at the squid base."

Seto's eyes go wide. "Squid base? Notch, Sky, how- Okay, fine. I'll get the others. Hey!" he yells, turning to walk to the door. "We're going on a trip!"

"In our favorite rocket ship?" Jason giggles, peeking his head into the room and smiling widely when he sees me.

"Ty is either dead or on his way there," Seto informs him, "so, yes, if you can locate a rocket ship, we will most certainly make use of its speed." Jason's face pales.

"I- I- what?" he stammers. Seto nods. " _Guys!_ We're going on a trip!"

"In our favorite rocket-" someone tries.

"No, shut up and get ready!"

I start towards the door as Jason darts off down the stairs, but then I remember the whole cure thing. "Seto, you're awake! Have you guys gotten to the city yet?"

"Yes, everyone's awake and perfectly healthy – thanks to you."

"Thanks to Ty," I correct him, refocusing on my current task as I run downstairs.

"What do you mean?" Seto asks, tagging along behind me.

"Ty, he- well, I'm not sure what he did, but he got the cure."

"Is that why...?"

"I don't know, Seto. I don't know. Notch, I thought he was helping the _squids_ , Seto, and I- _Notch,"_ I choke out, my run faltering. "Seto. Seto, it's _my fault_ that he's dead, and I- I can't-"

"Shh, it'll be okay, Sky. We'll find him – he'll be fine, I promise," Seto assures me, pushing me the rest of the way down the stairs.

"How do you know?" I sniffle. Notch, I'm a mess.

"Magic," he replies with a playful smirk. He splays his hands out, and purple magic sparks around his fingers.

I can't help but hug him.

"So, what's this about Ty being dead?" Tyler asks, effectively killing the moment. I let out another sob. "Aw. Darn, Sky, I'm sorry. 'S a real shame." Notch, why do – did? _do –_ they hate each other so much?

"Please go away, Tyler," I say gently, trying to even my breathing. "I can't deal with you and Ty's petty rivalry right now. He's my best friend, okay? He's _important_ to me."

"He _was."_

Seto gapes at him while I bury my head in the sorcerer's chest again. _Make him go away, Seto, make him leave,_ I think, not expecting a reply.

"No problem, Sky," Seto replies, still sounding absolutely appalled. He waves his hand, and Tyler doesn't even have time to react before he's being teleported elsewhere.

Unfortunately, I can't stop the laugh that bubbles up.


	27. Something More Than Eternal Pain

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 25: Something More Than Eternal Pain**

 **Sky's POV**

"At first, it hurt," the female says, her words fluid and almost without pause. "It hurt a lot. It felt like I was being ripped apart and then put back together again, like I was being _rebuilt_ , and _everything_ just _hurt so much."_

"But now..," the boy takes over, "now we are better. Now we can avenge Dawn and Alesa – now we can place the city in those hands which our city deserves."

"Our tentacles sting with the eternal pain. But when we transfer that pain to you right before your death, it will do so much more than sting," the girl says. She takes a wavering step forward. Tyler pulls Jason back slightly.

"You can't kill us," I say, wearing my best pretend confidence. "We'll defeat you. Where are your friends?"

The girl cackles, sending a chill down my spine. "Oh, _honey._ My friends are doing exactly what he and I just did – _they're getting stronger._ You _can't_ defeat us."

I swallow hard. "I refuse to believe that."

"You'll believe it sooner or later."

The boy monster slithers forward, and one of his tentacles darts out to hit Brice. He gasps as the tentacle latches on to his torso, and then he falls to the ground, writhing in pain. "St-Stop!" he begs, sobbing and panting and clawing at this skin, and, _Notch,_ how I want to help him, but I know firsthand how helpless a battle it is. "M-Make it stop, please!"

"As you wish," the boy drawls, moving his tentacle across Brice's chest, and then Brice gasps again and Brice screams and Brice goes _poof._

My friends and I gape in horror at the spot where he used to be. "Ah, we're even stronger than we believed!" the female monster laughs in elation as purple specks settle around where Brice was. "You popped him right out of existence!"

"Oh, no," Tyler breathes.

"Brice," Jason squeaks, wiping his sleeve across his eyes.

"Prepare to die!" I yell, raising my sword.


	28. The Red V-Neck

_THIS CHAPTER IS SO SHORT HOLY CRAP_

 _SORRY GUYS_

 _DONT WORRY, THOUGH, WE'RE GETTING BACK INTO THE REASONABLY SIZED ONES XD_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 26: The Red V-Neck**

 **Sky's POV**

Alesa, who freaked out when we told her Ty might be dead; Jason, who nearly had a panic attack; Seto, who won't let Tyler come; Annie, who was half-way between hugging me and strangling me; Merome, who are not going to be much help; and a few verifiably sane Recruits – they're the ones accompanying me to the Squid Base. And as much as I would love to hug the crap out of them all for helping, I'm currently much more likely to burst into tears again.

"Sky, look, you need to calm down," Seto says in a soothing tone of voice.

"I can't," I whimper, and Seto frowns and wipes my tears with his magic. I'm not sure how that works, but okay. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. We'll find him, Sky, I know we will."

"I know! It's just... I know it's far more likely for us to find him dead than it is for us to find him alive, and I don't think I can..."

"He won't be gone entirely," Seto reminds me.

"Please don't give me any of that 'he's still in your heart' crap-"

 _Poof._

Headphones.

Ty's. Around my neck.

"I'm sorry, I've never summoned a human so I can't just teleport Ty to us. But I can summon his extra headphones," Seto offers lightly.

I burst into tears and throw my arms around Seto.

"He hides them in his house, in case his regular ones get destroyed while you and he are doing something stupid," my favorite sorcerer explains.

"Thank you," I sniffle, because they're just so _Ty,_ and, for whatever reason, it helps more than anything else ever could.

"Never a problem."

Alesa shouts from up ahead, notifying us that we've arrived at the squid base, and we all split up to look for him. Not that we've got much to work with; the squid base is ruined.

"He's got to be here somewhere..," I insist, peeking under a pile of charred rubble. "He's _got_ to be."

"Sky, it's..." Seto shakes his head. "I can't sense him. The base is literally blown to bits. All that's left is fire and debris."

"I don't think we'll find him," Jason whispers, voicing the thought that we've all been refusing to embrace.

"No, we- we _have_ to find him!" Alesa shouts, matching my feelings exactly. Hmm. Does she still have lovey-dovey feelings for him? She'd better not. I thought she was over that- augh, not important right now.

"What if we _can't?"_ I ask, voice breaking on the last word. I'm not... I don't... "The last words I said to him were 'I hate you,'" I breathe. I blink, and a tear rolls down my cheek.

Notch dang it.

"Sky," Alesa calls distractedly over her shoulder, and I frown, wipe my eyes with my glove, and walk towards her.

"What?"

"I- oh. Oh, Notch," she chokes, backing away. I run up to take her spot.

"What is it? Do-" I freeze.

"What is it, guys?" Seto asks, teleporting over. His eyes go wide, and he glides forward.

"Did you guys find him?" Annie asks, and then she sees. Slowly, she blows out a breath of air, and then she moves to join Seto by the body.

"What's wrong?" asks Jerome, and then he gets here and calls softly, "Mitch..."

"What is it- oh."

Eyes closed, lips parted slightly. Face relaxed, as though only asleep.

A rip in his normally white v-neck.

It's red now.

"Notch _dang_ it," Seto growls, moving around my friend's body in a blur.

"Oh, _Notch,_ " Alesa repeats from behind me.

I can't move. My eyes burn. Has it always been this hard to breathe?

"Fricking- _no_ ," Seto mutters.

"Sky?" Annie asks gently, reaching a hand out toward me.

 _"Ty!"_ I cry out, my voice muffled by my own hand over my mouth and distorted by the sobs that rack my body.

Seto glances up at me, curses, and then motions for me to sit by him. "Look, Sky, it's- it's not- it isn't your fault, okay?"

"I-I- He- How could it be anything _but_ my fault?" I sob as I drop down next to him.

"It's not- It was _his_ choice, all right? To save you."

"Y-Yes, but- we could've gotten out _together_ , but I just _had_ to freak out on him and hold us back-"

"Oh my- Sky," Seto says, eyes wide as he looks up at me.

"And I- I could've said _anything,_ I had the _time,_ I could've _grabbed his hand and run out of the base with him-"_

"Sky."

"But instead I just _stood_ there and told him that I _hated_ him and-"

 _"Sky!"_ Seto hisses, and I finally look down to see him with his hand about a centimeter above Ty's open mouth, his other hand resting two fingers on Ty's wrist. "Sky, he's _breathing,_ just a little, I can feel his breath. And his pulse is weak, I didn't feel it at first, but it's _there_. Sky, we can save him."

My eyes go wider than I think they've ever been, and I gasp as I drop down next to Seto. "Oh my Jeb. He's- He's- Oh my Notch, Seto, really? Are you being serious?" Can't get my hopes up, can't, _can't!_ "Please, please don't pretend just to make me feel better."

"I'm not lying, Sky," Seto promises me, taking my hand and pressing two of my fingers against Ty's wrist. "Do you feel it? He's going to be okay, but we have to get him back to the lab. _Quickly._ "

"Of course! Yes. Yeah. Okay, come on, I can carry him. How long will it take us to get back? Not long, right? Can we make the trip back faster than the trip here? Do you need me to get anything for you to heal him with?"

"I can carry him with my magic, it won't be hard. The distance is actually quite small and it won't take long to travel across it, especially since we're very, _very_ motivated now. I don't need anything but the items in my laboratory," Seto answers all in one go, shooing some of our friends away so he can have room to cast a spell. "Stop worrying, Sky. _He's going to be all right."_


	29. My Fault

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 27: My Fault**

 **Sky's POV**

 **16:31**

 **21:1**

 **23:13**

"Seto, no!" I protest, plopping back down. "You said he'd wake up today, so I'm waiting."

"Sky, I..." Seto bites his lip. "Truthfully, he should've woken up the day we got back. I gave him some extra time, just in case, but... Sky, I don't know what's wrong with him. He _seems_ perfectly healthy, but _he won't wake up._ "

"W-What?"

He shrugs helplessly.

"I- He- _Then what-_ " I suck in a breath. "Seto, what if- what if _he has the disease?"_

Seto's eyes go wide. "Sky, you're a genius!" He darts over to Ty's bed, quickly pulling up a magic scan. "Hmm... Yes. Yes, he has the disease. Oh, why didn't I check this sooner?"

"The freaking idiot!" I rage, standing up and pacing back and forth across the room. "He _had_ the cure _in_ his possession, and he _must_ have known he had the disease – he could have just taken a small bit for himself, but _no!_ He just _had_ to make sure _I'd_ be okay! Notch, he's such a _moron!_ " Seto zaps out of the room, and I continue my rant. "Total imbecile! All it would've taken is a _single_ sip, and he'd have been one hundred percent fine! Why is he so _selfless?_ I-I'm not important! I b-broke his heart," I gasp out, and when did I transition into sobbing? "I- I _h-hurt_ him, s-so much, and I- I- H-How could I g-give him up? How could I choose a-anything over him?"

At some point, Seto has re-entered the room. "Listen," he says, "it's going to be okay. I don't know what you're on about, but Ty will forgive you for it as soon as he wakes up."

"N-No," I sniffle, "I don't think he will."

"He's your best friend," Seto says. "He's _Ty._ Have some faith."

"I'll try..."

"Seto, I can't find it," Brice says in confusion, peeking into the room. "Where'd you say you put it?"

"In the- Hmm. Uh, let me just summon it." Seto raises his hands, flicks his wrists. " _Summone Antidotum."_ Nothing happens. "Er, maybe if I summon the potion bottle rather than the potion? It's a solid..." One more spell.

An empty potion bottle clatters to the floor.

"Where is it..?"

"I... Um... Is it..." Seto's eyes widen. "We used it all. I didn't make any more because we thought we had already vaccinated or cured everybody, I- we- we're out of- the cure is _gone."_

I swallow hard. "W-What?"

"Can't you make a new cure with the disease inside of Ty?" Brice asks worriedly.

"If I could do that, I'd have done it before going on what was basically a suicide spell mission," Seto says. Brice frowns, opens his mouth, closes it again.

"I-I- He- What?" I ask. I'm not processing this correctly, I don't think- I can't- _Ty_ can't-

"Having a direct strain could help... Maybe we could get a direct strain of the virus from the oven," Seto offers, and I shake my head slightly, locked in a daze.

"No," I say, "we blew the oven up."

I destroyed Ty's only hope at life, and I haven't got the power to fix it.

It's my fault. It's all my fault. I've killed him, it's my fault, my fault, _my_ fault, my _fault,_ _my fault._

 _My fault._


	30. In the Troll Face

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 28: In the Troll Face**

 **Sky's POV**

"Regen!" Seto commands.

"Yessir!" I reply immediately, handing him the correct potion. He could probably do this bit on his own with his magic, but I'm glad he's letting me help.

"Why's it taking so long?" Brice asks impatiently. "Just dump a few potions on him and he'll pop up!"

"The Respawn Mechanism is still unfixed – I'll give Annie the gentleness potion recipe, you can get to work on that – and Ty's got head trauma. This is a delicate process, all right?" Seto rolls his eyes. "I have to keep magically checking a scan of his brain and applying the correct potions to the correct places in order to avoid healing Ty _incorrectly._ We do _not_ want another person losing their memory."

"That's... complicated."

"Yes, it is. Instant Health!"

I nod and hand him the potion, and he clogs the opening with a cotton ball, tips the potion bottle over, and then flips it back and begins dabbing the cotton ball across the back of Ty's head. "Annie!" The sorcerer calls, and she darts over. "Right hand in the air." She obeys. "I swear..."

She tilts her head, and he huffs.

"I _swear..."_

Finally, she catches on and repeats him.

"... to refrain from telling a single soul," he continues," the recipe for this potion. I swear... not to use this potion... under the instruction of anyone but Seto." He nods again after she successfully repeats everything. "Good. Go put together the potion, then go with Brice to the Respawn Machine so he can fix it. Do not allow _anyone_ else into the Mechanism's Room. Got it?"

Annie and Brice nod excitedly and run off.

"Sky, do we have any Notch apples handy?"

"Uh-huh."

"Awkward potions?"

"Mmhmm."

"Perfect. I need you to mix one of each in one of my brewing stands. Be quick, you should end up with a Potion of Notch."

"On it," I respond, shoving the Notch apple into its place and starting the brewing stand on its highest spin speed.

"This is a simple potion, it should be ready around... now," Seto says, and I nod in confirmation as I pick up the yellow potion and hand it to him.

"Ready for it?"

"Mm, one moment," he hums distractedly, eyes closed. A few seconds later, they fly open, and he accepts the potion and pours half down Ty's throat before dabbing the rest around the crown of his head.

"Good," Seto says, stepping back. "Fully repaired. Healed. He'll need to rest for a day or two more, but then he'll be wide awake and absolutely fine."

I knock over half the lab in my excitement.

* * *

Cake. Ty said it started with a cake.

It is time to address the ultra-random giant oven.

I peek inside for only a moment before popping back out with wide eyes. Green. It's _green_ cake. Why did the citizens eat it!? Well, all right. Seto vaccinated or cured all the citizens, but... better safe than sorry, I suppose. "Mitch, Jerome! It's bomb time!"

"Go, fish!" Mitch shouts, grabbing the bacca's hand and diving for cover. I jump off the stove top and into the snow below.

"All clear?" I ask loudly. No one answers.

Good enough.

A loud noise rings in my ears as the whole world flashes white, and I fight the urge to stuff my ears full of snow. Pieces of the shattered oven _thwack_ against the ground around me, steaming and burning and melting nearby snow. "Everyone okay?" I yell, but I still can't even hear myself. Oh, geez. Maybe I should sit back for a bit...

I stand up anyways. Oh, ow, the dizziness is real. "G-Guys?" I ask, and I can hear myself this time, albeit only a little

"Hooooooly frick," Mitch drawls, and I can barely make out his form as he falls back into the snow.

"That was... a bad idea," Jerome says, plopping down next to him.

"Sorry, I may have, um, used a few too many explosives," Quentin apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck as he steps out from behind the completely decimated oven.

"A few?" squeaks Ian.

"Heh."

"Oh, good," I comment, "my hearing's back to normal. Way to go, Quentin." He smiles apologetically. "No, seriously, good job. The oven is _gone._ "

Quentin sniffs haughtily. "I try." Ian bursts into laughter.

Whelp, I call that successful mission.

"You are dismissed!" I tell them, and they giggle before completely scattering.

 **Mitch's POV**

" _It's hidden in the troll face."_

"Oh my Jeb, Jerome, look, I got a text from an unknown number!" I say excitedly, pulling him to a stop behind the remains of the oven. "Look, it's like a treasure map, but in text form!"

His eyes light up beautifully as they scan across the phone. "Ooh, Biggums, what do you think it is?"

"Let's go find out!" I wave to Sky again and then grab my bacca friend's hand. "To the Respawn Machine!"

* * *

"Hey, Brice!" I call, banging on the obsidian. "Let us in!"

"Who is it?" asks his muffled voice.

"The Benja Bacca duo!"

"Oh! I mean, if it's _just_ you guys..." The obsidian slides away. "What's up?"

"We're looking for something," Jerome explains. "Can we..?"

"Of course, come on in," Brice says, shrugging. Jerome winks at me as we enter.

"Annie's just testing stuff; we're almost done. When will you guys be out?" Brice asks as we walk.

Jerome shrugs. "Eh, five or ten minutes."

"Great. I'm gonna go help Annie. Bye!"

"Bye!" I sing-song, and then Jerome and I race off to – carefully – tear the redstone troll face apart.

 **Brice's POV**

"Everything a-okay?" I ask Annie.

"Everything is more than a-okay - everything is _brilliant!_ " she exclaims with a grin. "You did well, Brice."

"You weren't so bad yourself!" I laugh. "Ready to head back to the lab?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. Have you got the keys to lock up?"

"Mmhmm." I lead her to the door and then pause for a moment, listening for Merome.

Quiet. They must have left already. I wonder if they found whatever they were looking for?

I lock the door, and we walk back to the lab.


	31. Sacrifice

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 29: Sacrifice**

 **Sky's POV**

 **1:14**

 **1:31**

 **2:2**

"Oof," I gasp as I fly back onto the floor. Luckily, they have not yet attacked my friends or used the eternal pain on me, but they _have_ pushed back everyone who tried to help. I stumble to my feet and sway a bit.

"This is getting a bit redundant," the monster girl hums. "Time to spice things up!" She lifts me off the ground with a suction cup to my head. "Catch, Johnny! Make him feel the Pain!"

My eyes go wide, and I struggle within her hold, but I can't manage to escape or to hurt her. "Sure thing," the boy calls back, and then I'm being slammed toward the end of SkyDoesMinecraft-

Jason last-minute tackles the monster boy, sending them both sprawling across the floor. At first I'm more than grateful, but then he monster boy flips Jason over and touches his tentacle to Jason's hair and Jason shrieks, brings up his arms like a shield but it's too late, it's too late, and _there goes Jason._

And I think I've lost _both_ my best friends.


	32. Maybe Lollipop Can Be Their Tea

**Believe Me**

 **Ch 30: Maybe Lollipop Can Be Their Tea**

 **Jerome's POV**

"LOLLIPOP, LOLLIPOP, OHHH, LOLLI- LOLLI- LOLLI- LOLLIPOP!" I yell as we run down the street.

"DUH- DUM DUM DUM," Mitch finishes, skidding to a halt. He holds the mystical lollipop out in front of us. "Our searching efforts have not been in vain, my dear friend."

"For we have found a _lollipop!"_ I exclaim. "'Tis a joyous day, indeed!"

"Shall we consume it, Biggums?"

"Indubitably, my valued Benja."

He frowns. "Wait. _How_ shall we consume it? There are two of us!"

I smirk and wiggle my eyebrows, and his eyes go wide.

"Well..." My benja grows a devilish smirk of his own and steps closer to me, so close that I can feel his light breaths against my lips. "If you insist."

 **Sky's POV**

I cannot blink.

If I blink, I will miss it when he opens his eyes for the first time since returning home to the city.

I cannot blink.

I blink.

Seto zaps into the room after hearing my long string of curses. "Sky?" He frowns. "Oh." The sorcerer walks over to me and crouches down to be at eye level. His frown deepens. "How long have you been sitting here?"

"Midnight," I yawn.

"Sky, that's- you've been here for _twelve hours,_ are you serious!?"

"I wanna be the first person he sees when he wakes up?" I explain, shrugging tiredly. I have some apologizing to do.

"Well, don't worry, you'll certainly be notified when he does. Meanwhile," Seto says, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of my chair, "you should get some rest."

"Seto, no!" I protest, plopping back down. "You said he'd wake up today, so I'm waiting."

"Sky, I..." Seto bites his lip. "Truthfully, he should've woken up the day we got back. I gave him some extra time, just in case, but... Sky, I don't know what's wrong with him. He _seems_ perfectly healthy, but _he won't wake up._ "

"W-What?"

He shrugs helplessly.

"I- He- _Then what-_ " I suck in a breath. "Seto, what if- what if _he has the disease?"_

Seto's eyes go wide. "Sky, you're a genius!" He darts over to Ty's bed, quickly pulling up a magic scan. "Hmm... Yes. Yes, he has the disease. Oh, why didn't I check this sooner?"

"The freaking idiot!" I rage, standing up and pacing back and forth across the room. "He _had_ the cure _in_ his possession, and he _must_ have known he had the disease – he could have just taken a small bit for himself, but _no!_ He just _had_ to make sure _I'd_ be okay! Notch, he's such a _moron!_ " Seto zaps out of the room, and I continue my rant. "Total imbecile! All it would've taken is a _single_ sip, and he'd have been one hundred percent fine! Why is he so _selfless?_ I-I'm not important! I b-broke his heart," I gasp out, and when did I transition into sobbing? "I- I _h-hurt_ him, s-so much, and I- I- H-How could I g-give him up? How could I choose a-anything over him?"

At some point, Seto has re-entered the room. "Listen," he says, "it's going to be okay. I don't know what you're on about, but Ty will forgive you for it as soon as he wakes up."

"N-No," I sniffle, "I don't think he will."

"He's your best friend," Seto says. "He's _Ty._ Have some faith."

"I'll try..."

"Seto, I can't find it," Brice says in confusion, peeking into the room. "Where'd you say you put it?"

"In the- Hmm. Uh, let me just summon it." Seto raises his hands, flicks his wrists. " _Summone Antidotum."_ Nothing happens. "Er, maybe if I summon the potion bottle rather than the potion? It's a solid..." One more spell.

An empty potion bottle clatters to the floor.

"Where is it..?"

"I... Um... Is it..." Seto's eyes widen. "We used it all. I didn't make any more because we thought we had already vaccinated or cured everybody, I- we- the cure is _gone."_

I swallow hard. "W-What?"

"Can't you make a new cure with the disease inside of Ty?" Brice asks worriedly.

"If I could do that, I'd have done it before going on what was basically a suicide spell mission," Seto says. Brice frowns, opens his mouth, closes it again.

"I-I- He- What?" I ask. I'm not processing this correctly, I don't think- I can't- _Ty_ can't-

"Maybe we could get a direct strain of the virus from the oven," Seto offers, and I shake my head slightly, locked in a daze.

"No," I say, "we blew the oven up."

"Uh, okay, it's fine!" Brice says hurriedly, quite clearly on the edge of panic. "We can, um, we can ask the citizens for cake! Maybe they still have some in their houses!"

"You _might_ be on to something," Seto mutters. He raises his voice to give commands. "Call Jason and Merome, tell them to ask around. Meanwhile, Sky and I will set up the lab."

Silence.

"Go! _Now!"_

Brice scurries out of the room, and I finally let out the sob I didn't realize I was holding. "We haven't got the cure," I gasp out between sobs.

"Shh, but we're going to make more," Seto promises, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Ty will be okay."

 **Jason's POV**

"Please, have you got any of that green cake left – the one we told you all not to eat anymore?" I ask, trying to keep my tone steady.

"No, sir, I'm sorry," the woman answers sadly. "I had my sons burn it when we found out." I let out a helpless sigh. Ty is a goner.

"But," says the lady, and my ears perk up. "Rodney, that nice man across the street? He and a few others donated their cake to the mental institution across town."

"The mental institution..?"

"Yes, they were asking for extra cake."

"Oh. I... Hmm. Thanks for your help, ma'am."

"You're welcome," she replies kindly before shutting the door.

I turn to face Merome. "What do you guys know about the asylum?"

Mitch tilts his head while he thinks, and Jerome answers immediately. "The mental Recruits are still being held there, I think, but I haven't heard anything about cake..."

"Oh! I think I remember seeing a poster advertising the asylum's need for cake!" Mitch pipes up. "It was in the Hunger Deans Lobby."

"Let's go see it!"

* * *

 _"Got any cake? Well, don't eat it! It's dangerous! But we can use it for science if you donate it to us. We're on the north side of the town; you'll know us by the big 'Mental Asylum' sign. Thank you! ~Sincerely, the Mental Recruits."_

"Are you kidding me?" I ask, entirely unamused.

"Wow," says Mitch.

"Why would anyone donate poisonous cake to the patients of a mental asylum?" Jerome asks.

"I have no clue," I reply, "but I have a feeling this is going to end very, very badly."


	33. Toaster Problems

_YO! SO, IM THREE WEEKS LATE, HEH. BECAUSE OF THIS, I'LL BE UPDATING THREE SETS OF CHAPTERS - FIVE IN TOTAL, BECAUSE THE LAST IN A SINGLE. **SO MAKE SURE YOU READ TWENTY-NINE AND THIRTY FIRST!**_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 31: Toaster Problems**

 **Sky's POV**

 **1:4**

 **6:3**

 **8:20**

The toaster is really peaceful. It's warm in the cold of winter, and it's so quiet.

I can see why Ty liked it.

"SKY!"

Never mind.

"What's up?" I ask in an unintentional monotone.

"What is your problem?" Alesa yells angrily, demon-speeding up the ladder. "What did you _do_ to him!?"

"W-What?" I ask. "What do you mean?"

"He's _dead,_ and it's _your_ fault!" Alesa shouts, and I wonder for a moment if this means she's my enemy again.

"Wait, he's-" My throat goes dry. "R-Really?"

"Yes, and it's _all your fault,"_ she hisses, pushing me backwards. My eyes widen and I stumble a bit as I lose my balance, step off the side of the toaster. Crapcrapcrap-

 _Nothing._


	34. The Best Monster

_i tried so hard to make this scary XD_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 32: The Best Monster**

 **Sky's POV**

"Give us the freaking cake!" I demand, pounding on the door of the asylum. The mental Recruits have barred the door, and I was called in as soon as Jason and Merome were shot at from the window of the place.

I am not helping all that much.

"Open up!" I scream for the hundredth time, finally giving up and sliding down against the door. "Can we get a bulldozer or something over here?" I ask Jason. He shakes his head sadly. "A bomb?" I ask Quentin.

The fish shakes his head just like Jason. "Seto says I'm not allowed to blow anything up. Sorry, Sky."

"We'll never get in," I moan negatively. I hate being negative.

"Don't worry," Tyler says gently, and I'll admit I'm a bit surprised, considering it's _Ty_ we're trying to save. "We'll fix this."

"Thanks," I respond quietly.

Silence.

 _Dead silence._

"Weren't the Crazies yelling inside the Asylum?" Mitch asks apprehensively.

"Why... Why have they stopped?" Jerome asks.

The city is quiet, too.

Someone screams from inside the asylum.

And then Brice's phone rings.

"S-Seto? Hey, what's up?" he answers, immediately putting it on speakerphone.

"Explain to me why I just got word of a permanent death from the Hunger Games Lobby," Seto's staticky voice says sharply.

"A- What? But Annie and I fixed the Machine!"

"Well, it's broken again. I'll tell the city – although most of them already know. Stay out of the asylum."

"But, Seto..."

"What?"

"We just heard a scream from inside, and-"

"A scream – oh, Notch, no, Brice, you can't go in, you'll get _hurt_. _None_ of you can go in. They've got a very dangerous chemical substance in their possession, and they could do very dangerous things with it."

"But-"

 _"Brice,"_ Seto growls. _"Don't go inside."_

I shoot Brice a shrug and an apologetic smile before drawing my sword and breaking through the window.

"I'm sorry," Brice says, sounding resigned. "We'll be careful."

"No-!" Seto shouts, and then Brice hangs up.

"Well," he says, swallowing hard, "are you ready?"

"Yes, sir," I reply, jumping through the window. Brice takes a deep breath and follows suit, and Jason doesn't waste any time in coming after him. Tyler doesn't blink twice before jumping in, too, and Ssunkipz and Merome come in pairs, obviously. Alesa opens her mouth as though to protest, but then she inhales and exhales slowly and takes out her sword.

"Let's go," she says.

So we go.

It's quiet in the asylum – really, really quiet. So quiet that, if I really focus, I can differentiate between the breathing patterns of each of my friends. "Where is everyone?" I whisper, because it feels odd to be loud in such a quiet place.

"I don't know," Ian whispers back. "They were just here..."

"AuGH!" someone shrieks from upstairs, sounding pained. The lights flicker and then go out.

"U-Um..," Jason squeaks, clearing his throat. "What are they..."

"It's okay," Tyler says comfortingly, putting a hand on Jason's shoulder. Jason smiles weakly.

I hate that I ship it.

"O-Okay," Brice stammers, holding his blade out in front of him as he walks. "At least we know they're upstairs."

"Yeah," I force myself to reply as we move forward, looking for the staircase. The silence returns.

 _Drip._

"What was that?" Mitch asks, clearly struggling to appear unrattled.

"It sounded like water dropping," Quentin comments.

"Nothing to be afraid of, then," Tyler points out.

I hum slightly as we feel our way around the asylum. "This would be easier with a torch."

"Sorry, I didn't bring any," Jerome answers. The others echo him regretfully. I sigh when we're left yet again with nothing but silence and darkness.

I nearly jump out of my skin when my shoes splash in a puddle of water. "Notch," I breathe, moving past it. "Careful, guys. Water."

"That's not..," Quentin begins.

"Sky, it's blood," Jason exhales, crouching next to it. "Oh, Notch..."

"I-It's okay. Just... Let's just keep moving on," I say, trying not to stutter. "I found the staircase."

"Cool," Mitch forces out.

"Great," Jason whispers.

I lead them slowly up the steps.

"Quiet," I say, not that they need to be told. "Weapons out?"

They nod.

"Okay. They're up here somewhere..."

"NoOo-" a girl's voice screeches in horror. Jason pales. Alesa looks down. Brice blinks a few times, and the others fake confidence. Tyler swallows hard.

"This way, I guess," I say, biting my lip and heading toward the scream. Footsteps ring gently in a room a bit away from ours, and we all freeze for a moment before inching forward.

"MaKE iT sToP-" a boy cries out in anguish, and Tyler closes his eyes and covers his ears.

"It's coming from in there," Brice offers, pointing toward a room with a faint blue light pouring out of it and dimly lighting the hallways we're in. A loud, pained groan spills from the room, and I grip my sword more tightly.

"On three," I whisper, and no one questions it when I say, "Ready? Set? GO!"

We all jump around the corner and into the room. "Halt-"

I freeze.

In the corner of the room is a large, scary-looking machine – it's the thing emitting the blue light. It's got a lot of buttons and wires on and around it, and it's hooked up to a black chair with straps on it. There's a big needle suspended directly above the chair. But what catches my attention first is the glowing green cake on top of the machine.

What catches it next is the monster in front of me.

A huge being with an unnaturally distorted human torso, a horrifyingly innocent human face that's frozen in fear, squids tentacles sprouting from where their arms and legs should be, and an overall disgustingly dripping body, as if it can't quite manage to keep itself together.

And there are two of them.

"At first, it hurt," the female says, her words fluid and almost without pause. "It hurt a lot. It felt like I was being ripped apart and then put back together again, like I was being _rebuilt_ , and _everything_ just _hurt so much."_

"But now..," the boy takes over, "now we are better. Now we can avenge Dawn and Alesa – now we can place the city in those hands which our city deserves."

"Our tentacles sting with the eternal pain. But when we transfer that pain to you right before your death, it will do so much more than sting," the girl says. She takes a wavering step forward. Tyler pulls Jason back slightly.

"You can't kill us," I say, wearing my best pretend confidence. "We'll defeat you. Where are your friends?"

The girl cackles, sending a chill down my spine. "Oh, _honey._ My friends are doing exactly what he and I just did – _they're getting stronger._ You _can't_ defeat us."

I swallow hard. "I refuse to believe that."

"You'll believe it sooner or later."

The boy monster slithers forward, and one of his tentacles darts out to hit Brice. He gasps as the tentacle latches on to his torso, and then he falls to the ground, writhing in pain. "St-Stop!" he begs, sobbing and panting and clawing at his skin, and, _Notch,_ how I want to help him, but I know firsthand how helpless a battle it is. "M-Make it stop, please!"

"As you wish," the boy drawls, moving his tentacle across Brice's chest, and then Brice gasps again and Brice screams and Brice goes _poof._

My friends and I gape in horror at the spot where he used to be. "Ah, we're even stronger than we believed!" the female monster laughs in elation as purple specks settle around where Brice was. "You popped him right out of existence!"

"Oh, no," Tyler breathes.

"Brice," Jason squeaks, wiping his sleeve across his eyes.

"Prepare to die!" I yell, raising my sword.

"May the best monster win," laughs the girl, smiling confidently.

She may not realize it, but I can be a monster, too. Not the kind that they are, no, but the kind that replaces his best friend with random "love interests" and abandons his best friend at a squid base and _kills a couple of his own citizens,_ crazy though they may be, _just for a chance to say sorry._

 _May the best monster win._


	35. Thank Notch for Seto, Amirite?

_THIRD UPDATE OF THE WEEKEND! **MAKE SURE TO READ CHAPTERS TWENTY-NINE THROUGH THIRTY-TWO FIRST!**_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 33: Thank Notch for Seto, Amirite?**

 **Seto's POV**

"W-Wha- What is- how-" He sucks in a breath, glances up, jumps to his feet. "Seto!"

"I-I'm- I'm f-fine," I lie through gritted teeth, willing myself to get off my hands and knees but not exactly succeeding. "S-Sorry, I've n-never tried that before; s-summoning a living, breathing person is m-much more difficult than summoning an object. A-Are you-" I choke back a violent cough. "Are you okay, Brice?"

"Are _you_?" he asks immediately. "'Cause you don't _look_ okay."

"F-Fine- I-I think- just- i-if you're up for it, we need to- need to do the others." I take in a shuddering breath. "But if you're hurt, I-I can do it-"

"No, you can't," Brice says firmly. His voice drops to a whisper. "I'm sorry, Seto. I... I'm sorry. You're my best friend, and I... I shouldn't have stormed out and left you alone that day, I'm so sorry, I was being so stupid and I- I know you care about me, Seto, _duh,_ you're the most caring person I know, and..."

"T-Two things," I say, ignoring both the 'friend' comment and the way my stomach flipped anyways. "One: You don't know how much that means to me, Brice. Two: Our other friends are still in trouble."

His eyes widen, and now is not the time to be thinking about how cute he looks. No emotions. Only concentration. "Right! How?"

"Take my hand." Emotions _off,_ dang it. "Try not to feel anything. If you must feel _something,_ feel desperation to save your friends."

Uh, okay, this isn't going to work.

"Perhaps we should just, um... I'll put my hand on your arm?"

He blushes terribly, and I fight back a blush of my own. No emotions! Geez, I take _such_ risks, working with him daily.

"All right. Not perfect, but it'll have to do," I mumble, closing my eyes. "My apologies if we begin to float. _Summone S-K-Y, J-A-S-O-N, Q-U-E-N-T-I-N, I-A-N, M-I-T-C-H, J-E-R-O-M-E, A-L-E-S-A, T-Y-L-E-R. Potestatem transferre alica post – a fonte ad source duo."_

The room flashes purple, and I scream.

 **Sky's POV**

"Oof," I gasp as I fly back onto the floor. Luckily, they have yet to attack my friends or use the eternal pain on me, but they _do_ push my friends back every time they try to help. I stumble to my feet and sway a bit.

"This is getting a bit redundant," the monster girl hums. "Time to spice things up!" She lifts me off the ground with a suction cup to my head. "Catch, Johnny! Make him feel the Pain!"

My eyes go wide, and I struggle within her hold, but I can't manage to escape or to hurt her. "Sure thing," the boy calls back, and then I'm being slammed toward the end of SkyDoesMinecraft-

The air is knocked completely out of my lungs for a moment when I hit the wall, and all I can see is purple. Slowly, slowly, what seems to be a purple mist finally evaporates, and I can see again.

"Sky!" Jason shouts, scrambling across Seto's lab to sit next to me on the ground. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"F-Fine," I stutter, standing up (with Jason's help). "It's cool. I'm good. Thanks."

"Oh, Notch, he passed out," Brice panics, and my eyes widen.

"Brice, you're alive!" I gape at him as I make my way over with Jason by my side.

"But I can't tell if Seto is," he says, almost hyperventilating as he leans over Seto's body. Potions whoosh across the lab, shattering against walls with puffs of yellow light.

"Woah, is that you!?" I ask. Jason stares at me as though questioning my priorities. Rude.

"I-I dunno," Brice replies, and a sob breaks through after his words. Oh. _Oh._

"Wait, Seto is- Jason, go pick up the remaining potions! Call Annie, too, she seems to know how these things work." Jason runs off, recruiting the others to help him, and I drop to my knees by Seto. "Brice, explain."

"H-He teleported me here, but he usually can't teleport people without being right next to them and having their consent, and that's usually hard on him anyways, but I guess he knew I was in danger, and- and- and then he was really hurt but he said we needed to summon you guys, too, so I tried to help him and it hurt worse than the eternal pain but it was only for a second and then I felt even better than I had and what if I didn't concentrate hard enough or what if I screwed up the spell and hurt Seto even more or what if-"

I cut him off by pulling him close to me. "Seto will be fine, Brice. Do you remember what he said as his spell?"

"I- I- H-He- I dunno, it was- I don't know," Brice sobs, visibly shaking. Whether it's from the emotion or the extra energy he seems to have acquired, this is very concerning.

"Shh, calm down. It's okay, you don't have to remember. We'll figure this out anyways."

Brice slumps in my arms, though still jittery. "I just want my Seto to be okay," he sniffles, and my heart breaks for him because _I understand._ I just want my Ty to be okay.

"I know," I whisper. "Here, why don't you sit by him while I go help Jason and the others?"

"O-Okay," he replies brokenly while yellow magic mists around the ground near him. I jump to my feet and run towards the door Jason ran through earlier. How long does it take to call someone?

"Jason!" I yell impatiently. "Where's- Notch, are you all right?"

"N-No," my friend stammers through a stream of tears. "No, I- Ty's freaking out, all the magic crap by his bed is wigging out and messing up, and Ty's pulse is really unsteady, and Tyler thinks Ty is going to die, and- Sky, _what do we do?"_

"O-Okay, we- we'll just- it's fine, we- Ty won't- Ty is-" I force myself to take a deep breath. It doesn't help. "All right. Just... All right." I turn back toward the room Seto is in, freeze, turn toward Ty's room... Which do I help first?

"Seto!" Brice calls, and a half-second later, he's helping our sorcerer through the door. "Seto, wait, you need to rest!"

"We can't use the cake in the asylum," Seto pants, face scarily pale, eyes sparkling anyways. "They tainted it, it's useless. However, I've just had the strangest dream..." His eyes flick curiously to Brice and then back to me. "And I need to know if Alesa has any of her medicine left. I suddenly recall having worked her vaccination into her most recent bottle of pills..." His eyes twinkle mischievously.

As he surely expected, it takes me less than a minute to pry the info out of Alesa and dart across town to her house.

"Pills, pills, pills... ASHLEY! Where are Alesa's pills?" I yell, rummaging through their kitchen.

"In the pill place!" she replies from somewhere upstairs, and I huff.

"That doesn't help," I mumble, standing as tall as possible in order to see onto the shelves. "Aha!" With a jump and a yelp and just barely a success, I grab the pill bottle – how does Alesa reach that? – and sprint for the door. "Thanks, Ashley!"

I don't quite hear her reply because I'm already half-way back to the lab.


	36. Motionless

_First of all: I apologize for the long wait! I'm so sorry. It won't happen again; I finished writing the book a few days ago! :D Expect a very... **bittersweet** ending._

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 34: Motionless**

 **Sky's POV**

 **2:16**

 **3:2**

Alesa lies motionless on the floor.

Blood drips from the back of her head as Tyler frantically shakes her limp body, and I try to breathe deeply and think rationally. She- She- Come on, she's on our side, so she _has_ to live! That's how these things work. We have to save her!

And yet, with my hand over her wrist, I can pinpoint the exact moment her heart stops beating.


	37. BaiBai, Biggums

_READ THIRTY-FOUR FIRST!_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 35: Baibai, Biggums**

 **Jerome's POV**

 **2:2**

 **4:24**

 **7:3**

"Hey, Squissue!" calls a voice, and a small rock bounces off Monster Girl's head. "Get it? 'Cause you're a squid issue, so: Squissue!"

"We're not calling them that," Alesa mutters to Sky, and he pouts for a moment.

"Anyways, _Squissue,_ leave the benja alone!"

"Ah, it's _you,_ " the monster girl hisses. "We almost had you last time. Unfortunately, we no longer have time for you, or for everyone else – I'm busy killing _this_ one."

"Mitch!" I shriek, swinging my axe uselessly at the squid mutant's torso. The monster hardly even reacts. "Stop, let him _go!"_

She uncurls her tentacle from around Mitch.

But Mitch is long gone.


	38. The Worst Kind of Person

_READ THIRTY-FOUR AND THIRTY-FIVE FIRST!_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 36: The Worst Kind of Person**

 **Ty's POV**

 **5:51**

 **5:66**

 **5:92**

"You're the worst kind of person," Sky snorts, shaking his head and then looking back up at me. "And certainly the worst possible best friend."

"Sky- I-"

"I don't wanna hear it. Ty- Look, I'm sorry, I can't be… I won't be hanging out with you anymore. Honestly, you're just not worth my time."

"Wait, Sky, let me-"

"No. You don't get it, do you?" It's just a dream, just a dream! Oh, Notch, why does it feel so real? I can see his sad smile, feel the tears leaving tracks down my cheeks, smell the unmistakable smell of… _Sky._ I'll miss it. I'll miss _him._ "I… I really do _hate_ you, Ty. I'm sorry, but… to be honest, I really just despise your existence. I _don't_ want to be your friend, and-" he makes a face, "-I certainly don't want to be anything more. I'd rather be your enemy than your ally."

I nod and force myself to walk away, if only to find a quiet place to break down and properly cry.


	39. Hmm, I Wonder

_READ THIRTY-FOUR, THIRTY-FIVE, AND THIRTY-SIX FIRST!_

 _OH MY LORD IM SO HAPPY TO BE BACK_

 _MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA : 3_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 37: Hmm, I wonder. -.-**

 **Sky's POV**

"Okay, be quick about this. I can't stabilize Ty magically and Brice has yet to learn how." Seto glances at Ty, lets out a breath. "Alesa's medicine s _houldn't_ have any adverse effects on him, but... Well, we'll be on the lookout. Okay, Jason? Hand me that regen potion. Thanks." He pours it down Ty's throat carefully. "Sky?" I pop the pill into Ty's mouth.

"All right. If we're lucky..." Seto takes a deep breath and falls down onto a chair next to Brice. "He'll wake up soon."

I nearly sob in relief.

While we wait, Brice assaults Seto with question after question about his collapse. "Are you sure you're okay? Did I do something wrong? Can I help at all? How come you passed out but I was fine?"

"I'm absolutely okay, you did nothing wrong, you're helping just by being here, and we'll talk about it later."

"What does _that_ mean?" Brice asks with wide eyes.

"Nothing important. We'll talk about it later." Seto turns his gaze toward Ty. "Check him for changes. The others – everyone in the city – woke up after ten minutes."

"Half-way there," I mumble. Seto shoots me a supportive smile. Brice stands up and waits for instruction.

"Repeat after me," Seto says, and then he whispers a spell to Brice since his own magic isn't working. Brice falters unsurely but finishes the spell in the end.

"O-Okay, it says- it says his heartbeat is at ninety-two beats per minutes, a-and his D.I.S. - DIS? - is at seventy-three. Um... The rest is all jumbled and weird.

"It's okay, it'll get clearer the more you use the spell. Practice makes perfect. Anyways, that's good. Could be better, but... I think he'll live."

"When will he wake up?" I ask.

"I'm not sure. Probably within five or so minutes."

I nod excitedly and prepare to wait.

Augh. Blah. Bleh. Bloo. Blue. Squids. I hate squids. Augh.

I pull out my phone and glance at the time. "Seto, it's been five minutes."

"Be patient."

"Okay."

…

"Seto, it's been eight minutes."

 _"Patience."_

"O _kay._ "

…

"Seto-"

"This isn't an exact science, Sky. We don't know for sure when he'll wake up, how he'll wake up, _if_ he'll wake up-" Seto freezes as my face drops. "Hold on, I'm sorry, Sky. There's a _ninety-percent_ chance that he'll wake up, really. He'll be up in no time."

"Ah... You don't have to, um, lie to make me feel better," I whisper, standing up. "I'm... You don't have to be sorry, either. I was being impatient. We're _all_ stressed out. I'm just gonna go, uh... do something."

"Sky, no, wait," Seto calls, standing up.

"See ya," I reply, and my gaze lingers on Ty for only a second before I walk out the diddly darn door.

 **Jason's POV**

"Is he really going to wake up? Or were you just trying to make Sky feel better?" I ask, feeling and sounding small.

"I..." Seto sighs. "He might wake up. Maybe. _Most-likely."_

"How long _will_ it take?"

He laughs sadly, helplessly. "I have no idea."

Everyone is silent for a while.

"All right, then, get moving, guys!" Alesa demands, standing up. "No time for sitting around. Someone has to make sure Sky doesn't do anything dumb. The mutant Crazies need to be dealt with immediately. And Ashley is-"

"The mutant Crazies!" Seto exclaims. "Notch, we left them unattended in the city!"

"Oh, no," Tyler whispers. "That wasn't supposed to happen..."

I snort. "You can say that again."

Alesa looks at him – us? – for a long time. I ignore her.

"Mitch, Jerome, Ian, Quentin," Seto says loudly, effectively gaining their attention. "You guys need to go warn the city. Evacuate the area around the asylum. _Do not_ engage in battle with the Crazies."

"Can they _actually_ poof people out of existence?" Ian asks.

"What? No. That would mean they had the power to erase all of a person's code and then erase all memories of that person from the minds of everyone else in Minecraftia. No one is that powerful. I have no idea what they _can_ do, though – there's some kind of magical barrier around the asylum, so I can't teleport in and out of it and I can't sense the beings inside of it," Seto answers. "So, _please,_ don't fight them until we truly know what we're up against."

"Who knew _cake_ could lead into the creation of such a powerful creature?" Tyler laughs, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood.

"Hmm, I wonder," Ty says dryly.

Wait.

"Ty, you're awake!" I shout, jumping out of my chair to stand by Ty's bed. "How do you feel?"

"Lovely," he replies, giving me a quick, though still genuine, smile. "Where's Sky?" He scans the room quickly, his eyes slowly widening. "Oh, no. No no no no no. Why is he the only one not here? Is he okay? Did he get the cure? Did the cure work?" He glances at Seto. "Never mind. Glad you're okay, Seto. Where's Sky?"

"Hey, calm down," Seto says. "Brice, do the spell again."

"Where's Sky?" Ty repeats impatiently while Brice mutters the spell.

"He's perfectly fine, Ty. We're worrying about _you_ right now. Would you like us to call him?" Seto asks. I pull out my phone and begin dialing Sky's number while I wait for the inevitably positive answer.

"No!" Ty shouts, startling us all, and I nearly drop my phone. Tyler raises an eyebrow, and everyone else in the room freezes. "I-I mean, no, thank you. I don't... No need to bother him." Ty shrinks back into the bed.

"Oh, I'm sure he'd _love_ to know-" Seto tries assuring him, but Ty cuts him off.

"N-No! Please, please don't. He doesn't care. He won't appreciate the news. Please don't call him."

Brice swallows hard. "U-Um, okay. His pulse is eighty-six. His D.I.S. is eight. I-Is that good?"

"Yes, his D.I.S. was ninety-seven before we gave him the cure," Seto says. "It's _very_ good. Ty, why don't you want to see Sky?"

"N-No reason! I mean, it's not a big deal, just- well, he's probably busy, and... yeah." Ty gives us a weak smile. "I want to surprise him..?"

"Is this about the squid base thing? 'Cause Sky sure as heck doesn't hate you, I can tell you that," Alesa puts in, scoffing a little. "Is it even _possible_ for him to hate you?"

Ty hums, clearly not believing a word out of her mouth. "Well. Maybe you can call him later?"

"I'm sorry, Ty, but we have to tell him," Seto says sadly.

"If you want, I can go tell him in person," Alesa offers. "I don't know where he is, so that'll buy you a bit of time." Alesa's willingness to help Ty out without question kind of amazes me, to be honest. When did they get so close?

Ty sighs in moderate relief. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure," Alesa replies with gritted teeth as she stomps out of the lab.

"Don't be mad at him!" Ty calls in a panicky voice. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"You're biased!" Alesa yells back, and then she slams the door behind her.

Ty frowns worriedly and starts to get out of bed, but Seto pushes him back down. "Hold on, now, your D.I.S. isn't at zero yet. You need to rest for a while – these last few D.I.S. levels will go down very slowly."

"What?" Ty asks with wide eyes. "Exactly how long will that take?"

"Augh, please don't be like Sky," Seto groans. Ty furrows his eyebrows, but no one explains. _"I don't know._ Probably just a few hours."

Ty grimaces. "Yay."

"Right. Merome, Ssunkipz, head off to the city. Brice, come with me, we're gonna try to break through the magical barrier around the asylum. Jason, Tyler, stay here and look after Ty."

"If you guys don't mind, I think I'll go with these four to the city," I say. "If the mutants have moved out of the asylum, we'll need all the help we can get holding them back. Tyler can stay here with Ty."

"N-No, wait," Ty says, glancing at Tyler. "Um... Why, exactly, are they going to the city?"

"Mutant Crazies; you heard a little about them earlier," Seto explains.

"Sounds scary. Maybe Tyler should help, too," Ty suggests. "Er…" His expression changes. "Maybe he should stay with you and Brice. You might need help in the lab."

"Nah, Annie will be here soon. Anyways, you need someone looking over you. You're weak," Seto points out. Ty winces, looking to be on the edge of panic.

"Actually, Seto, maybe Jason should stay with Ty," Tyler says, looking over at me. "I'll go to the city instead, like Ty sort of suggested first. He'll be more comfortable with you here."

I shrug. "Okay. I'm all right with that," I say. "Ty?"

"Yeah, I..." He cringes. "I guess. Thanks, Jason."

I grin. "No problem. Now, tell me _all_ about the squid base incident!"


	40. Squissue?

_Guys. **Guys.** It's almost over. o.o_

 _WHOOP WHOOP IM EXCITEEEEDDDDD_

 _DRAMA, COMMENCE!_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 38: Squissue?**

 **Sky's POV**

The toaster is very peaceful. It's warm in the cold of winter, and it's so quiet.

I can see why Ty liked it.

"SKY!"

Never mind.

"What's up?" I ask in an unintentional monotone.

"What did you _do_ to him?" Alesa yells angrily, demon-speeding up the ladder.

"W-What?" I ask, backing away from the edge of the toaster. Just in case. "What do you mean?"

"I mean _Ty._ What'd you do to Ty!?" Alesa stomps to a halt in front of me, and I jump to my feet. "You said you just told him you hated him, but that boy is absolutely _terrified_ of you. You _must_ have hurt him more than that for him to be that scared."

"I- I didn't- Wait, does that mean Ty has woken up!?"

"You aren't allowed to see him," Alesa growls.

"What!? Why not?" He's my best friend, I'm in love with him, he's my everything!

"He's _afraid_ of you!" Alesa shouts.

"I didn't hurt him, Alesa," I say firmly. "I said some things I wish I hadn't, but I didn't... wouldn't..." My eyes widen. "Does he... Does he hate me now? I..."

Alesa's eyes soften, and the raw anger in them fades. "I don't know, Sky. Knowing you two? He could never bring himself to hate you, no matter what you did."

"I still feel terrible," I sniff, blinking rapidly. "How could I..."

"Hey, shh, it's fine," Alesa says comfortingly, pulling me into a hug. "I'm sorry. You guys will be fine. But I still think... I still think you should wait a while to see him. Just... wait until he sorts out his thoughts."

"O-Okay," I reply in a small voice. "Thanks, Alesa."

"Of course."

Someone in the city screams, and a familiar, creepy laugh fills our ears.

 _"Crap."_

 **Tyler's POV**

The lady screams.

Mitch jumps in front of her at the last moment and blocks my monster girl with his sword. Good. The citizens aren't supposed to get hurt.

 _Sky is._

"You think you can stop us? You, with your puny weapons and your weak defenses?" the monster girl cackles. _"Please."_ She slithers around Mitch, her tentacles squelching against the ground. "Your teleportation last time was impressive, I'll admit. But it seems to me that your success is limited to escapes. You will never be able to _defeat_ us." She winds her tentacles around Mitch, and he yelps and swings his sword. With what looks like zero effort, the monster girl rips it from his grasp and flings it away.

"Mitch!" Jerome yells as our view of the boy is obstructed, and the monster girl doesn't waste any time in throwing him aside. I flinch as he hits the wall of a nearby building, and Ian runs to help him up. Agh, do I butt in? Will the monsters still listen to me? Even if they do, my cover will be blown.

"Hey, Squissue!" calls a voice, and a small rock bounces off Monster Girl's head. "Get it? 'Cause you're a squid issue, so: Squissue!"

"We're not calling them that," Alesa mutters to Sky, and he pouts for a moment. Idiot.

"Anyways, _Squissue,_ leave the benja alone!"

"Ah, it's _you,_ " the monster girl hisses. "We almost had you last time." She uncurls from around Mitch to reveal the poor boy sitting with his eyes shut tight, his knees hugged to his chest.

"Biggums!" Jerome gasps, jumping up and swaying only slightly before sprinting around the monster to reach Mitch. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? I'm so sorry, Mitch!"

Mitch opens his eyes and smiles weakly, and Jerome takes this as his cue to hug the crap out of him. "Thank Notch," he mumbles into Mitch's hair.

Sky continues talking to the "Squissue" while Quentin and Ian direct the remaining citizens away from the asylum and its surrounding blocks. Then, before any of us can properly react, the monster girl whips a tentacle at Sky and sends him flying across the street. Alesa screams, and I, being closest now to Sky, hurry to reach him, sword in hand. He lies on the ground, slightly dazed, gasping for air.

The Respawn Machine is off.

Sky is weak.

I can kill him, _right here,_ _right now._

For Dawn.

…

For Dawn?

…

Is it worth it?

I can't lose Jason again...

Sky really _isn't_ a bad person, he just did what he had to do...

And I have no right to barge in and take Sky from Ty.

On the other hand, Sky had no right to kill Dawn – there were other ways to solve the problem.

Sky deserves this.

Alesa was so close to victory, too – and then feelings happened. Feelings for Ty and feelings for the Team and _feelings never result in anything good._ You trust someone and then they let you down, and you love someone and then they break your heart, and you realize how many people would miss someone and then you forget how many someones you're already missing.

Now. I have to do it now.

 _But I can't._

I reach down before Sky can question me for getting lost in my thoughts, and he puts out his hand so I can pull him back to his feet.

"Are you all right?" I ask.

"Yeah, thanks, Tyler," Sky replies, smiling and giving me a quick hug.

Oh.

Okay.

…

Screw it, I'm ditching the plan entirely. Sky has been too good to me. I was so angry, so hurt that I'd lost the only person I had left – Dawn. But now I have Sky. And he's nicer than Dawn, actually. He isn't power crazy and he's only a _little bit_ scary when he talks about his dreams or aspirations in life and he hugs me even after I've given Ty so much crap.

Of course, he doesn't know the full story behind that. Maybe he won't be so kind after he knows.

But it doesn't matter. I deserve whatever chaos comes my way because of this.

Aaaaaand now we're stuck with a bunch of dangerous, unnecessary mental mutants.

 _Perfect._


	41. Take the Flint and Steel, Dang It

_gUYS GUESS WHAT_

 _CHICKEN BUTT HAHAHHAHA LOL_

 _IM SO SORRY XD_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 39: Take the Flint and Steel, Dang It**

 **Ty's POV**

"And I came across the fricking jackpot, a room full of, like, commands or something? A bunch of buttons. And there was one with a muffin on it – oh. Perhaps it was meant to be an explosion. Anyways, I pressed it."

Jason laughs and leans back in his chair. "Nice. How did you manage to get so far away from the base, then?"

I snort. "I _ran._ Thank the devs for dramatic electronic countdowns, amiright?"

"Definitely," Jason laughs again. "So, why-"

"Can I go now?"

He frowns. "It's only been about half an hour, Ty."

"Yeah, but- but I want to help."

"I don't have a clue what your D.I.S. or whatever is."

"And I don't have a clue why I should care. Please? Come on, you wanna help, too, I can see it in your eyes. Worried about-" I refrain from growling, "-Tyler?"

Jason sighs. "…Yeah. Little bit."

"Uh-huh. And I'm worried about my friends, too, Jason. We need to be there for them. _They_ need us to be there for them."

Jason squeezes his eyes for a moment and then stands up. _"Fine._ But then we have to get you back here so you can rest!"

"Yes!" I jump off my bed and hug Jason. "Thanks, you're the best!"

"Hold on, Ty, you've just woken up! Maybe you shouldn't be running-"

"Catch up or sit down, Jason!" I yell as I fly down the steps, nearly running into Seto at the bottom.

"Knew you'd get up even after I told you not to," Seto mutters, grudgingly handing me an iron sword. Oh, I think it's got Fire Aspect on it, too. I grin and thank him before running off again, but he calls for me to stop. "Brice and I couldn't break through, and I've never heard of a mutant like this, but try chopping off their tentacles and burning them, like a hydra, kind of? I think that's our closest bet for winning." He hands me some flint and steel.

"Thanks. Wait- does this mean that two tentacles will grow back in the place of one if we cut it off and _don't_ burn it?" I ask, eyes wide.

Seto winces. "Maybe..? Wait, Ty! One more thing. I… I hooked you up to the dream machine while you were unconscious. You shouldn't have been dreaming, but I put some extra magic into Brice to protect him and he can't contain it all, so… Anyways, listen. I promise I'll be quick.

"Sky does _not_ hate you. Sky does _not_ despise your existence. Sky does _not_ want to hurt you in any way. I hate to tell you this, because he specifically told me not to, but- He _loves_ you, Ty. He's _in_ love with you. He'd die _for_ you, he'd die _with_ you, he loves you _so much,_ and you can't let a dream get in the way of _your_ love for _him._ It was just a dream, Ty. Just a fake vision caused by too much unused magic. It _wasn't real._ Please, Ty, find Sky, and _talk_ to him."

I blink a few times, because this is exactly what I've always wanted to hear. This is what I've dreamed of ever since the break up a few years ago. This is everything I could ever ask for.

And yet… it isn't enough.

I want to hear it from Sky himself. I want him to hold me close and tell me that I still _mean_ something to him.

I want to know _for sure._

Regardless, Seto's speech still helps a little bit – I will _not_ let a stupid dream get in the way of my love for Sky. That never would have happened anyways, but… I should have let Jason call him earlier. I want to see Sky, and… yeah, he might even want to see me.

I whisper a thank you and give Seto a quick hug, and then I dart out the door and towards the city center, where I assume the battle will be taking place. Accidentally, I leave Jason in the dust.

I skid around a corner just in time to see Tyler holding his sword over a dazed looking Sky. I'm about to run forward and murder Tyler on the spot, but then he lowers his sword hand and offers his other hand to Sky. Sky hugs him quickly, and Tyler smiles sadly, firmly.

I wonder if maybe Tyler could be given a second chance. After all, who in this town _hasn't_ tried to kill Sky once or twice?

Ha, I can make jokes _after_ we get rid of these mutant squid thingies. "Sky! We have to treat the mutant thingies like hydras, cut off their tentacles and then burn the ends of them!"

Sky's head whips around, and his eyes go wide when he sees me. I have to laugh a little. "Ty, oh my Notch! Ty, you're _okay!_ I'm so sorry, Ty, I-" He tackles me to the ground with a very aggressive hug. "Ty, I'm _sorry._ For everything," he whispers into my neck, and I try not to shudder from the feeling of his breath against my skin.

"It's… okay," I say quietly, hugging him back as tightly as I can.

"Is this how you do it?" asks Tyler, chopping off one of the tentacles of a mutant who had been creeping up on me and Sky. He smiles nervously at me as he takes my flint and steel to burn the remaining part of the tentacle. "Is this okay?"

He's asking about more than the mutant squids.

"Yeah," I say carefully. "Yeah. That'll do."

He looks terribly relieved. "Cool. Sorry," he says, handing back my flint and steel. "Didn't mean to take anything from you. Shouldn't have."

"It's… all right. You can, um, have it, if it'll make the, erm, _flint and steel_ happy."

Tyler shakes his head. "I think the flint and steel likes you a bit more than it likes me," he replies softly, glancing at Sky. Sky raises an eyebrow.

"I don't think the flint and steel really cares..?" says my amazing best friend.

I ignore him for a moment to hold out my hand to Tyler. "Truce? At least for now?" I ask.

He nods hesitantly. "Yeah… Truce."

Sky shrugs and chops off another tentacle with his budder sword.

The budder sword, being made of budder, burns the end of the tentacle right after Sky makes the slice, so there's no need to use the flint and steel. I press it into Tyler's hands, since my iron sword has Fire Aspect anyways and we're done with our meaningful analogies. "Mitch, Jerome, Ian, Quentin! Don't chop off the tentacles unless you're prepared to burn the remains immediately afterward, or the mutants might grow two more tentacles in the first one's place!" I shout. The two mutant squid things glare at me (specifically the seemingly female one missing two of its tentacles), and I shrug and glance around to see who else is here. "Alesa, do you have a weapon?"

"No!" she yells back, dodging around an angry male mutant.

I reach into Sky's backpack and dig around for one of the many-

Alesa cries out in alarm as she dodges the mutant one more time, but this time, the mutant continues its lunge forward even after she's moved away. An innocent civilian, stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time, ends up getting the brunt of the squid mutant's attack. His tentacle brushes against her chest, tightens around her stomach, and she shakes and screams in pain. Then, in a pixelated poof of death, she basically _evaporates,_ leaving only a few pixels to be scattered by the wind.

My eyes widen, and the squid mutants exchange a glance, smiling at each other like they've already won the war.

I blink.

I reach into Sky's backpack and dig around for one of the many budder swords that I know he has hidden in there somewhere. Soon, I come up with three and toss one to Alesa while another goes to Mitch and Jerome and another lands in front of Ian and Quentin. "Sky, take over!" I shriek as I swing my sword at the girl mutant. Her tentacle falls to the ground and then pixelates away as my sword burns the stub left over on her body. While she screams in fury, Sky jumps into commander mode and starts yelling out orders.

"Ssunkipz, go back and check the asylum, don't go inside alone, bring a few willing civilians or Recruits, if there are any nearby, and try to figure out if there are any more Squissues! Mitch and Jerome, block off this part of the street, don't let civilians enter this area, don't let mutants leave it! We've made it this long without a casualty to the mutants, we're not going to start now! Tyler, Alesa, I want the mutants boxed in closer and closer so we can finish them off quickly and then go assist Ian and Quentin. Ty, we'll be doing most of the chopping and burning. Ready? Go, go, go!" Sky pulls me out of the way of an incoming tentacle and then jumps right back up to slice it away. The female… Squissue? Is that what Sky called them? The female Squissue roars in pain and backs up a few meters, but Alesa stabs her budder sword through another of her tentacles, and she growls, stuck in our trap.

All right, that's five tentacles down for that Squissue. Only one left on her. Five left on the boy.

While Tyler burns off one of the boy's tentacles, the female Squissue bats Alesa aside and makes a wild, awkward run for it at the same time that a familiar scream sounds from the direction of the asylum. Mitch and Jerome start toward the runaway Squissue while Tyler runs to help Alesa. "No, Merome! Let her go, she can't do much damage with only one tentacle; we'll find her later," Sky commands, simultaneously striking the male Squissue with his sword. "Go help Ian and Quentin! We'll all be there in a moment!"

Mitch and Jerome exchange a glance and then nod firmly before running off toward the asylum. Meanwhile, Tyler is frantically shaking Alesa, who doesn't seem to be responding at all. "Alesa?" Sky asks, and his eyes go wide as his attention falls entirely on her.

I almost make the same mistake as him, but I notice the male Squissue just in time to cut off two of his tentacles in one go. He screeches in pain and stumbles on his two remaining limbs, and Sky tugs his gaze away from Alesa long enough to flat out chop them off.

With a horrifyingly distressed cry, the male Squissue dissolves into a tiny pile of pixels that blows away when the wind hits it. Sky gapes at the display, and I'm about to do the same when I suddenly remember Alesa.

"Is she okay?" I yell, sprinting to Tyler and Alesa and dropping down onto my knees next to them.

"I don't know, she won't wake up," Tyler gasps in a panic as Sky kneels down beside us. "I- I'm so sorry, I- This is my fault-"

I give him the "shut your pie-hole" face, and he looks conflicted but clamps his mouth shut anyways. "She'll be okay." I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Seth's number. He picks up almost immediately, thankfully.

"What's up? How are you guys doing?"

"So-so. We need you to come to the city center and pick up Alesa. Take her to Seto's lab, he'll help her. Sky, Tyler, and I need to get to the asylum. How soon can you be here?" I ask, glancing down at Alesa and then in the direction of the asylum.

"I'm here," Seth says, accompanied by a familiar _pop_ noise, and then he appears right by me and Sky. "I've got her. You guys can go on."

"Thanks, Seth, you're a life saver," I say, meaning it literally. I grab Sky's hand and stand up, and Tyler jumps up as well and runs after us as I lead us all to the mental asylum. "Tyler, you're in charge the moment we pass through the asylum doors. I'm _trusting_ you. Don't make me regret it."

Eyes wide and jaw dropped, he hesitantly nods. "I won't."

Sky furrows his eyebrows in confusion as we run into the darkened asylum. Holy crap, why is it so dark? Oh, geez, I don't know where I'm going. Come on, Tyler, take the freaking lead. "Why, exactly, is Tyler in charge?" Sky asks curiously.

"Because I said so," I reply shortly. "Is this where the Squissue things have been spawning?"

"Long story short, yeah," says Sky, but he snorts like there's a _lot_ more to it.

"Fair enough. Tyler, can you go any faster?"

He glares at me. "It's _dark_ , okay? Chill." Ah, there's the Tyler I'm used to. Good, I was starting to get worried.

I roll my eyes and turn on the flashlight on my phone. "Here."

Sky makes an "o" shape with his mouth. "Why didn't _we_ think of that!?" he mumbles, and I chuckle.

"Tyler, go!" I order, snapping back into serious mode. He huffs at me but bounds up a set of stairs anyways.

We're about halfway up when we start to hear Mitch and Jerome shouting to each other. "Biggums, go long!"

"Haha, caught it! Is there a sport where people catch swords?" Mitch laughs, and then the sound of sizzling squid flesh reaches our ears.

"No, but there's always the Hunger Games," Sky replies, slicing off a Squissue tentacle and killing the overall Squissue the moment he enters their room.

"Sky!" Mitch shouts in greeting. "Tyler, Ty! Awesome, there are like three more squid things in the room across the hall."

"On it," Sky says instantly, sprinting towards the specified room. Tyler starts to go after him, but I shake my head.

"He'll be fine – Ian and Quentin are probably in there, too. You need to show me what's been making these things. Is it still active?" I ask, holding onto his arm to keep him from moving.

"Most-likely, yes," he replies guiltily. "But it's a pretty slow process, so the three mutants in that room are probably the only ones left."

"Awesome. Let's go find the source."

Tyler nods and guides me down the hallways, toward a room that seems to be glowing with a dim green light. "Um…"

Tyler waves it off. "It's just the cake."

"The cake?" I ask, eyes wide.

"Yeah. I combined it with this old potion I found in Dawn's basement – it was labeled 'Too Much Power: DON'T EVER USE!' So I, uh…" He smiles mischievously. "I used it."

"There are a lot of things in that sentence worth questioning, but we haven't got the time right now. How do we shut this thing down?"

"Easy. Just flip the off switch and then dump the cake and the transfer tube into a fireplace or something."

"Can I trust you to dispose of that stuff properly?"

"Yes. Ty, I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't really- I didn't specifically want to kill Sky- well, yes I did- this is going badly," he laughs nervously when he sees my unamused expression. "Look, I was trying to avenge Dawn, she was- she was my cousin. She was the only family I had left. We were really close, and when I heard she had been killed, I… I was mad. I didn't want to be alone again," he chokes out, and, against my will, I find myself feeling bad for him. "I'm sorry, Ty, really, I am. And I'm not- I don't want to hurt Sky anymore. Sky is… Sky made me not alone anymore." Tyler laughs. "He gave me so many more someones to care about. He helped me find Jason again…" He shakes his head. "Sorry. I just- I'll take care of the cake. But I just want you to know how grateful I am to you for not letting me tell Sky back there. How…" He bites his lip. "How long would you be willing to keep my little secret?"

I frown. That's a hard question.

"No need," announces a voice from behind us. We spin around to see Sky leaning against the doorframe. "I'm a very forgiving person. I'm sorry about Dawn, Tyler, but I'm glad I've helped you make some new friends. How about we start over?" He walks toward us and holds out his hand. "Hi, I'm Sky. And you are?"

Tyler smiles the widest smile I've ever seen. "Tyler. And this…" He takes Sky's hand in both of his, and for a moment I'm a tad jealous. But then he guides Sky's hand over to mine and leaves it there, and my eyes go wide. "This is Ty. He's your soulmate, in case you hadn't figured it out yet," Tyler finishes, smirking shippily.

Sky looks questioningly at me. I can almost read his mind, hear every second-thought and _"oh my Notch,"_ so I take a deep breath and decide to speak first for once. "Tyler seems like a clever guy. Maybe, um…" I laugh nervously. "M-Maybe you should listen to him?"

Slowly, a smile grows on Sky's face.

"I guess it couldn't hurt."


	42. Don't Forget Me

_aaaaaalllll right so_

 _im home sick, and i feel like death, but mUST POST XD_

 _im so sorry i didn't post yesterdya guys, my family went on a trip and when i got home i just kidna lazed around XD my badddddd_

 _aNYWAYS_

 _APPRECIATE THIS CHAPTER, LOSERS_

 _IM KIDDING_

 _YOURE ALL WINNERS IN MY EYES!_

 _YOU GUYS ARE GREAT_

 _WANNA BE MY FRIEND?_

 _HA YOU MIGHT NOT AFTER YOU READ THIS CHAPTER_

 _: 3_

 **Believe Me**

 **Chapter 40: Don't Forget Me**

 **Ty's POV**

"Sky, you said you'd be gone for _a few seconds!"_ shouts an angry mudkip. "We need your help!"

"Crap," Sky mumbles, eyes going wide again. He smiles apologetically. "You up for some Squissue-killing?"

"It's not exactly the first date you'd expect after this kind of encounter, but I suppose it will have to do," I giggle, and Sky laughs, grabs my hand, and pulls me out of the room.

"I'll be back to help as soon as I get rid of this cake!" shouts Tyler, and I nod and draw my sword again.

"Oh, dear," I laugh, unusually giddy as I brutally chop off a Squissue's tentacle. "This is dangerous."

"Life is dangerous!" Sky shouts back, seeming equally happy. He slices the tentacle of a Squissue that was about to take out both Quentin and Jerome in one go, and the mutant hisses at him.

"What the Nether were you guys doing in there?" Ian asks, dodging a tentacle swipe.

I wiggle my eyebrows. "What do you think?"

Mitch gags as he finishes off one of the three Squissues. "Get a room, sure – but, please, _after_ the battle!"

Sky blushes, and I laugh as I strike the last slice on the second Squissue. The third one cowers in the corner, thoroughly angry but also thoroughly afraid.

"GOGOGO!" Jerome shouts, and we all rush the remaining Squissue at the same time. Pixelating tentacles fly everywhere, and the Squissue itself disintegrates into a pile of pixels.

"Victory!" Sky screams, and everyone in the room cheers loudly.

"Aw, you guys finished without me!" Tyler shouts as he runs into the room, but he's smiling excitedly. "We _won!"_

"Victory hug?" Sky asks quietly, taking a step closer to me.

"It's been ages since I last got a victory _kiss,"_ I suggest innocently, grinning.

"I'm sorry, Ty. I… I never stopped loving you. And I was so, _so_ stupid to break up with you just to avoid political crap with the city. I… I'm so sorry, Ty. Please, _please,_ will you forgive me?" he whispers, leaning in closer.

I nod dumbly, paralyzed by his proximity. "I- I love you, Sky."

He smiles softly. "I love you, too, Ty."

We both lean in, my eyes flicker shut-

 ** _"hE iS ImPOrTanT tO YOu?"_** I breathe out harshly as my back slams against the wall of the room and my sword falls out of my hand. **_"JOhNnY WaS iMpORtAnT tO mE."_**

I suck in a breath as a tentacle pins me against the wall. "S-Sky-" I gasp out, struggling vainly against the female Squissue. Oh, why didn't we finish her off when we had the chance? Now she's _angry._

 ** _"It sTiNgS,"_** she growls as something scarily slimy drips off her tentacle. **_"dO YoU wAnT TO FeEL tHe StInG? It oNLy HuRTs a LiTtLe bIT. iT OnlY tINGleS A tAD."_** She inches closer to me, and I feel around on the ground for a weapon that isn't there anymore. My weapon isn't there anymore.

"D-Don't- Crap-"

I stare up in fear at the Squissue as she moves closer still.

 **Sky's POV**

"No! _Ty-"_

It's too late. The monster girl shoots one of her tentacles forward and makes contact with Ty's chest. Ty cries out in pain, trembling in his place.

 ** _"dO yOU LiKE thE sTINg Of iT?"_** she asks. **_"I fInD I'm gROwINg qUitE fOnD oF tHe FeeLINg, aCtuALly."_**

"P-Please- Stop-" Ty pleads, letting out a single sob. I tear my eyes away and glance at his sword lying across the room.

Wait…

No.

That didn't _work_ in the dream. I _won_ the battle but I _lost_ my Ty.

 _No._

 ** _"WhAT wAS tHaT? yOu'D LiKE mE To BuMP iT uP? SuRE ThINg-"_**

I sprint straight toward Ty and barrel into him, effectively knocking him out of the way and leaving myself in his place. "I won't let you hurt him," I growl, glaring right into the squid mutant's eyes.

 ** _"tHiS wILl hURt hIm MoRe tHaN I EvER cOUld,"_** she says, grinning creepily. I don't even have time to register her words before she's wrapping her one remaining tentacle around me and shooting the eternal pain into me full blast. I scream in anguish and squeeze my eyes shut as my scream slowly dissolves into a pitiful, hopeless sob. My vision begins to fade to black…

 _For Ty._

Suddenly, the tentacle goes slack, and the monster girl shrieks and pixelates. I smile weakly as I collapse onto the floor in front of Ty, who is standing with his eyes wide and his sword held high and sprinkled with mutant pixels. "S-Sky," he sob-laughs, dropping to his knees in front of me. _"Sky."_ He wraps his arms around me and holds me tightly. "Are- Are you okay?"

I accidentally mimic his sob-laugh when I try to answer. "I-" I swallow hard. "I-I'm sorry, Ty." I sink down, laying my head in Ty's lap as my breathing gets heavier, more labored.

"W-What? N-No, no, what? You can't die, we-" His breathing gets faster, and I squeeze his hand gently as my eyes flicker shut. "That girl is dead! S-She's gone! You _have_ to be okay now, that's how it _works,_ Sky, we _won!"_ I smile apologetically, wishing I could kiss his pain away. "Don't say sorry! Don't _look_ sorry! Don't even _think_ sorry! Sky, you- you- you didn't do anything _wrong,_ Sky. Remind m-me what you did wrong. Nothing! I- S-Sky, please-"

"I'm sorry I can't stay," I mumble sleepily, eyes completely closed. I'd open them, but it seems so tiring… "D-Don't… Don't forget me… okay?"

"Believe me, I-I won't," he sob-laughs. I sigh contentedly, and my breathing begins to slow. "Wait, S-Sky, I- I-" He lets out a single sob. "Sky?"

I can't find the energy to reply as the last of my life disappears.

 _"I'll miss you…"_


	43. The End

_couldn't sleep. decided i'd post._

 _it's always fun to make people cry : 3_

 _i'm so sorry XD anyways, en-juh-hoy the last chapter of Believe Me, my friends. It **is** quite bittersweet. I almost regret it._

 _Nah, not really XD_

 _Hey, if enough of you guys are displeased, I might write an alt. ending. Who knows? anything to please you lovely Rulers *bows*_

 _alsoooo, if you go to my youtube channel (hghrules, who woulda guessed), you can find a song entitled "Where Did You Go Wrong." I wrote it to go along with this chapter. : 3_

 _anyways! en-juh-hoy! and, my friends, have a lovely Sunday!_

 _(oh my lord school is almost out i am so happy)_

 _(that was random i am sorry)_

 _(carry on, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers)_

 **Believe Me**

 **Ch 41: The End.**

 **Ty's POV**

Sky pixelates and disappears.

I blink.

"We…" I grin, wiping my eyes. "We won!"

I rise to my feet and hold my sword up in victory while the rest of the room cheers. "WOOHOO!" "VICTORY!" "WE _WON!"_

"Oh, we have to go check on Alesa!" I shout, looking at Tyler with wide eyes. "Come on, she's back at Seto's lab!"

The whole party zooms out of the asylum. We shout about the victory to any nearby civilians, and they cheer and run off to spread the news while we hurry on to Seto's lab. We're there in no time.

"Seto!" I yell, nearly knocking down the door. "Seto, where are Seth and Alesa?"

"They're in the room you were in while you were unconscious with the disease," Brice explains, flinging open the door before we can break it down. "Calm down, she's fine. She just woke up a few minutes ago."

Tyler whoops, and we all smile and walk toward her room. "Alesa?" I ask quietly as I peek into her room.

"Ty! How'd the battle go?" she asks excitedly, sitting up in her bed. Seto "tsk"s at her, but she ignores him.

"Amazingly," I reply, grinning happily. "Minimal problems. Fairly quick victory. We freaking _won._ The disease has been eliminated. We're…" I laugh and shake my head. "We're _safe."_

"Finally," Jason huffs. "Sorry I didn't join you guys, by the way. Seto stopped me to warn me about the mutants, and then Seth and Alesa came flying in, so I just stayed here to help out."

"Not a problem," I say, waving it off. "What was Seto warning you about?"

"Oh, the type of monster!" Seto exclaims, smiling at me. "Brice and I figured it out – oh, right, Brice! We've figured out what the deal was with the weird dreams some of you have been having. Basically, since Brice retained some of the magic from our Wither disaster but didn't have any way to release it, he was subconsciously using the extra magic to cast minor prophecy spells on some of you. I've taught him a few simple spells, though, so from now on we should be able to keep it under control until it wears off. Anyways, Brice was the one who managed to figure out what kind of monster we were facing, and it's really quite interesting. This kind of monster hasn't been seen since the first build of Minecraft, and even then it was a mistake – too much power given to a single creature. Apparently, Notch cursed it into pixelization, but the pixels didn't disappear afterwards like they were supposed to. Instead, they were sprinkled across Minecraftia. It was rumored that a player could, theoretically, locate and contain one of the pixels and then use it to recreate the monsters. Apparently, someone here _did;_ and then they combined it with a squid, of all things." Seto explains, laughing.

Tyler looks up at me nervously from across the room, and I smile warmly. He grins.

"Anyways, these mutants are – _were_ – so powerful that they actually _could_ zap someone out of existence like you guys were previously told. Their painful attacks went through a slow and complicated process that, ultimately, deleted all coding directly associated with the victim. The victim no longer existed, and, clearly, would not respawn. The victim's family and friends would forget the victim ever even existed, and any memories involving the victim were twisted so that the victim was entirely forgotten," Seto finishes. He wrinkles his nose. "Sorry, I was rambling. This is just a really interesting topic."

I huff out a laugh. "It's fine. We're lucky none of us got zapped for too long, though."

"Holy crap, but Ty almost did!" Jerome informs Jason, Alesa, Brice, and Seto. "He was _this_ close, I swear."

Brice's eyebrows shoot up. "How'd you get away?"

I frown and furrow my eyebrows. "Um- oh!" I smile again. "Tyler pushed me out of the way, and then I was able to get to my sword and finish off the Squissue."

"Squissue?" Alesa laughs. "What kind of a name is that?"

I bite my lip. "I- Hmm. I don't know. It just sort of… feels right?" I frown. "It feels like… not enough."

Ian tilts his head. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, it's just… it's like… it seems like a memorial for something. But it isn't enough, like- like, whatever's being honored, it deserves to be honored _more._ Deserves to be _remembered_ more. I don't know, it's…" I laugh. "Sorry. I'm just tired after the battle."

"Fair enough," Alesa replies softly, and there are tears in her eyes.

"Why…" Jason looks down at his feet for a moment and then looks back up, stares right into my eyes. "Why does the room feel so empty? It's full of people."

"Why does it feel like we lost?" Tyler whispers, rubbing his hand over his arms as if he's trying to comfort himself. Jason notices and wraps him up in a hug.

"I don't know, but… but we didn't," I say firmly after a moment. "We _won._ And I think that's worth celebrating."

Slowly, the smiles return to everyone's faces. "Yeah. I think you're right," Jason says gently. "And, if you guys don't mind all that much, and if Tyler is okay with it, um… I'd like to celebrate personally with Tyler, on a… date. I-If you'll have me." He smiles nervously and taps his fingers against his thighs as he looks hopefully at Tyler, whose jaw has long since hit the floor.

"Jason…" He laughs. "Are you serious?"

Jason, looking vaguely worried, nods nervously.

"I would _love_ to!" Tyler shouts, startling half of the people in the room. He laughs happily and pulls Jason into another tight hug.

"Um… I…" Brice cuts himself off before he even begins. "I was, um… wondering if… you know, s-since we're on the topic of dates, I, um… Seto, I- Um, I-"

"Brice?" Seto asks gently, taking both of Brice's hands in his. Brice nearly faints. "If you're asking me to go on a date with you, I'd like to go on far more than _one."_

Brice faints. Luckily, Seto catches him, laughing good-naturedly all the while.

Mitch and Jerome shrug and start making out.

Alesa, nearly doubled over in her laughter, makes her way over to me. Once she's mostly recovered, she bites her lip and then whispers, "Listen, I know I don't have much of a chance here. But, I mean, everyone else is asking, so… Do you think you could give me a chance, Ty?" I furrow my eyebrows. "I promise not to go psycho this time," she jokes, and I smile slightly.

"Alesa, you're a really good friend of mine, and I think you deserve someone who really loves you. I… I don't. I'm so sorry, that was a terrible way to put it. I'm just… I'm not really into love, you know? I don't think it's really… meant for me. I can't really picture myself with anyone. Ever." I frown.

Alesa takes it surprisingly well. "Hey, I mean, if you wanna come jack off to that Fable character we found," she says suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows, and I burst out laughing so hard that my stomach starts hurting.

"What was his name, again?" I ask, giggling still.

"Um, let's see… Sky, I think?" Alesa asks, shrugging.

My lips turn up a bit against my will at the sound of that name. "Hmm. _Sky._ Sky and Ty. Yeah, I could see that being a thing. Too bad the Fable character isn't a real person."

Alesa frowns, and it lasts for so little time that I almost convince myself I imagined it. "If Sky _were_ a real person, do you think… Do you think love would be 'your thing' then?" She furrows her eyebrows like she's thinking hard about something, trying to remember something. "Do you think you would love him forever?"

I try to laugh, but it comes out strangled and sad, and I can't shake the overwhelming feeling that I have _definitely_ lost this battle. "Oh, I would," I finally answer.

 _"Believe me, I would."_

 **THE END**


	44. Goodbye, My Friends

Yo! So, if you've gotten to this part, you've finished the story. If you haven't - for shame! Kidding, it's probably Wattpad's fault. Sorry about that, just go back and read the ending.

But if you _have_ read the ending - well. I thought some of you might like to know that you _can_ buy the Remind Me series, in all its cringey fanfiction glory, in paperback print form. It's available on Amazon (just type in "toasterblurblederpwhoop" or "hghrules" without the quotation marks) as well as Createspace (go to "Createspace dot com" and select "store" on the drop-down menu by the search box. then type in "toasterblurblederpwhoop" or "hghrules" without the quotation marks). So, hey! Yeah. I made 'em as cheap as createspace would let me for the amount of pages they had, and I'm soooo sorry I can't just give them out to those who want them for free.

But, if you'd really really like to shove a printed fanfiction in your english teacher's face, then, go head and order a copy of the series, I guess. XD _Do not_ feel bad if you don't want to or aren't able to buy copies. You won't hurt my feelings, I promise! This is just in case any of you would want these on your bookshelves. (Also, heh, I kind of just want to see them on my _own_ bookshelf. Oops.)

Anyways.

I'd like to thank you all for being a part of this whole Remind Me journey with me - geez, I'ma miss this series. *a single tear* If you guys want an alt. ending, I'll write and post that after this part.

ALSO ALSO ALSO

Did I mention!? The server. The one used mostly for IBMEC and Games. It's, uh, oops. I goofed. I jacked up. It was reset to an earlier backup. I am so, so sorry for any work that was lost on the server. It also has a new IP address: "IBMECFFOfficial . mcservers . ws"

So. I suppose that's all I had to say?

Thank you, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers.

And, uh, my sincerest apologies for posting this at one in the morning.

kIDDING #NOREGRETS

SEEEEEE YAAAAAAAAAA SUCKERSSSSSSSS

*im so sorry i need sleep*

Baiii, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!

~Hghrules


	45. BOOK FOUR -facepalm-

FRICK GUYS I DID IT

 **I MADE A FOURTH BOOK** (i am so sorry for all you confused fanfiction dot net people, there was a thing on wattpad and ultimately it resulted in a fourth book instead of an alt ending xD)

GO FIND IT

 **IT'S CALLED "REMEMBER ME"**

ALL CREDIT FOR TITLE AND FOR INSPIRATION/ACTUAL IDEAS IS GIVEN IN THE AUTHORS NOTE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK

FRICK MAN IM SO EXCITED XD THERES A LOOOOOOT OF SETOSOLACE

WHOOP WHOOP HERE WE GO, FOLKS!

(also: i keep forgetting to say this. but, to the person who asked however many ages ago: D.I.S. stands for "Disease in system." I never actually said that in the series, i just kinda kept it to myself. XD)

ALSO ALSO

YOU GUYS

*CrieS*

YOU GUYS LEAVE SUCH ENCOURAGING COMMETNS AND REVIEWS AND I JUST

I LITERALLY ALMOST CRIED READING SOME OF THEMA SDLKFJ ASDKLFJ

 **I JUST LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH OK**

YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING

AND HONESTLY THIS SERIES WOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN THIS FAR IF IT WASNT FOR YOU GUYS

AND I AM SO SO THANKFUL FOR ALL THE VOTES AND READS AND COMMENTS AND CRAP, AND JUST FOR HTE EXPERIENCE OF WATTPAD/FANFICTION

CUZ LIKE LETS BE HONEST IF YOU GUYS WERENT HERE YELLING AT ME, I WOULD NEVER FRICKING WRITE ANYTHING XD

BUT AGH I JUST

THANKS, GUYS

ALSO I HAVE SIX SIX SIX FOLLOWERS : 3 THANK YOU TO THE PERSON WHO UNFOLLOWED SO I COULD SCREENSHOT THIS MOMENTOUS MOMENT xD

ALSO THANKS TO THE PERSON WHO POINTED OUT I WAS ABOUT TO HIT 666, AND TO THE PERSON WHO POINTED OUT I _HAD_ REACHED 666 xD

OKAY GUYS

OKAY

DONE RAMBLING

SEE Y'ALL IN THE NEXT BOOK

*Squeals in excitement*

 **OH YEAH HERE'S A BLURB:**

 _Sky is back - but he's been forgotten by everyone he holds dear._

 _(Unfortunately, he has_ ** _not_** _been forgotten by the Angry Manager.)_

THERE YA GO XD

OKAY

GOODBAI, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS!

I HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE NEXT BOOK!

 **YOU CAN FIND IT BY TYPING IN "toasterblurblederpwhoop" TO THE WATTPAD SEARCHBAR OR BY GOING TO MY PROFILE PAGE ON EITHER WATTPAD OR FANFICTION DOT NET**

ALRIGHTY

BAI, FRIENDS!


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